dark water winter evening shrouds smoke like cloud
Some bad weather coming up from down in the Southern Ocean a few weeks back. Usually we get a lot of rain in Melbourne when clouds this dark arrive. The sun was setting across Port Phillip Bay as we looked out towards Geelong with apprehension. This is my contribution to Ronovan Writes #Weekly #Haiku #Poetry Prompt #Challenge #276 Smoke&Water by hitting this link you can see all the other creative haiku shared from around the world.
When I first saw this challenge I thought Ronovan was calling out to all those Baby Boomer Rockers from the 1960-70’s. My memory went back to Smoke on the Water, the classic Deep Purple anthem written one confusing night on Lake Geneva. So I came up with another themed haiku for all those old Rockers.
wild rockers smoke on the water hotel burns
I have a Japanese friend who thinks he may have been at the Osaka leg of the famous Made in Japan tour on the 15th August 1972. They don’t create music like this any more. Do they?
Maggies inside toys waiting to be put away for the evening.. When she is particularly playful many of these will be scattered across our lounge and dining room, in the hallway, kitchen and on the couch. She has particular favourites for the mood she is in. Bigger ones are for throw and fetch, smaller ones are for close up push and pull and this gets dangerous as the teeth can be involved. Sometimes we can call a particular name and she may choose it, for instance there is Ted, Elk, Ratty, Parrot, Turtle Tom and Mick the Monkey. Most of this collection has been collected of the street, in car parks and parks by Charlie and now Maggie.
Since I took this photo she found and brought home a 1 metre stuffed snake toy. An observant reader will notice none of these toys have been damaged. Charlie and now Maggie respect their toys. What kids and parents leave abandoned in public is amazing.
The outside collection is another story. Destruction and damage are the norm. Again there is a collection of balls, as in many tennis balls, a Soccer ball, a football, a large rubber ball, a plastic ball and one frisbee. There was another frisbee that was her absolute favourite however this was finally totally demolished last week. Tug of war, chase and fetch with balls and frisbee and swing the old runner by the laces are favourite games. All outside games come with an element of danger to humans as jumping, hitting, grabbing prodding and twirling are involved. Again most of the balls have been found and brought home. The soccer ball was rolled up the street by Maggie using her nose. The football was found in a street in Toorak, our poshest suburb and proudly carried a long distance back to the car by Maggie in her teeth by the lace to the disdain/amusement/ confusion of many onlookers. She happily adits outside ripping apart or shredding her balls. Charlie found a cricket ball and Maggie is yet to break this one up. When all else gets boring Maggie finds a twig or breaks off a branch or pulls a pot plant apart or digs a new hole. Afghan Hounds are creative players.
art show favourite locked shed wake and wail poor horatio
Maggie visited our local municipal Art gallery twice recently. She enjoyed the first visit so much we had to plan a return. This had nothing to do of course with the free dog biscuits specially prepared in small packages handed out to all arty dogs . As you can see Maggie was actively engaged with the displayed works and did show a keen interest in the fate of Horatio the cat. This prompted a late entry for Ronovan’s haiku challenge Wake and Wail. Other contributions can be viewed at https://ronovanwrites.com/2019/10/14/ronovan-writes-weekly-haiku-poetry-prompt-challenge-275-wailwake/
Every Tuesday morning I would go to Yoga class and at midday Charlie would wait by the front room window looking out for my car to arrive. Jill captured this moment to show me how the routine would unfold. It is over three and a half years since Charlie died and we are often reminded of what a perfect dog she was. One of her understandings was not to get on furniture. Maggie on the other hand has commandeered every couch and bed in the house as well as her three dog futons. When she wants to look out this window Maggie climbs up on the furniture, (now a couch is under it) and presses her face against the window. Or if she is lying on the couch she raises and stretches her head and places it on the back of the couch to see who is coming in the gate. Then she decides to jump up and bark or slip off the couch and wait by the door or go back to sleep.
These trees are in the Gariwerd National park in Western Victoria in Australia. This is an ancient mountain range formed millions of years ago through geological upheaval. The forests are also ancient and regenerate after regular fires usually caused by lightning but occasionally by humans. For thousands of years, we are not sure how many, but possibly 30-40,000 at least, Indigenous Australians lived within these ranges and respected the flora and fauna. There are many thousands of years old rock art galleries sharing the culture of the Indigenous people throughout Gariwerd. Rock art sites are still occasionally discovered by current scientists that indicates the wild nature of some sections of this area . The haiku in this Haibun is a response to RonovanWrites #Weekly #Haiku #Poetry Prompt #Challenge #273 Forest&Whisper go to https://ronovanwrites.com/2019/09/30/ronovanwrites-weekly-haiku-poetry-prompt-challenge-273-forestwhisper/#comments and see lots of other haiku responses to this challenge from Ronovan.
Today, the first day of October, the second month of Spring finally feels like that season has arrived. We had a lazy lunch at a cafe in Black Rock where Maggie had the usual fuss made of her and a selfie taken. When we arrived home I went for a walk around the garden capturing some of the different plants currently flowering on my camera. Only five are indigenous, can you identify the exotics. The one we are observing most keenly is our Blueberry bush as it is laden with flowers turning to fruits as the bees attend.
Haiku hound 