No Edges
By Michelle Garren Flye
I decided to be edgy much too late
Soft living makes soft edges
And those are just curves
Rounded spaces don’t agree
With razor sharpness
Anyway
So I’ll just go on preserving
Circular surroundings
(Circles have no end, no beginning
They mean forever
And a day
But that’s too long for anyone sane)
And leave the sharp spears
To the young people
Those who can still afford
To poke holes
Where they don’t belong.
I’ve been studying haiku and how to write it, what it’s supposed to mean. It’s interesting. Haiku used to seem like an incredibly easy format to me. It doesn’t have to rhyme. It’s just a certain number of syllables and lines. Turns out that’s not really all haiku is.
By reading some original Japanese haiku from Matsuo Basho, I’ve learned that there’s more to haiku than just counting syllables and lines. It’s more about the feeling you are left with at the end of the poem. So haiku isn’t so much about what’s there as what’s left. If that makes any sense.
Anyway, here are thirteen haiku I’ve written over the course of the last few days. I’d love to know if you have a favorite. Do any of them leave you with anything?
#1
The gardener prunes
But new growth won’t be restrained
Bright green emerges
#2
Fireworks entertain
But divisive words excite
Rebellion looms near
#3
Stained glass wings hover
Glory in the hot summer
Swoop fast, stop away
#4
2020 sucks
plague, famine, deluge and war
make a new start now
#5
it’s the halfway point
the race isn’t won yet
can we just restart?
#6
Heartfelt empathy
Pain from any side will hurt
Shut down the spirit
#7
No lightning tonight
Just rain falling in the pines
Sounds lonely alone
#8
Dark voices cry out
I search for them in the sky
Black wings spread, take flight
#9
Crows call murderous
Shrieks splitting the morning light
I listen and smile
#10
Desirous waking
Leads to newspaper reading
This day just the same
#11
Stay home to be safe
Wear a mask, don’t go out there
Life is lived this way
#12
Spiders don’t frighten
But dark doubts creep up on me
Fear takes over life
#13
Disaster movie
Background characters await
Saving grace. The end.
My True Name
By Michelle Garren Flye
Horrible, beautiful monster,
Come here into my embrace.
It’s only with your care
I feel I will win the race.
watch, watch, watch
be always on guard
behind your camouflage
ready to do your part
And then it happens—so quick!
Safety is naught but the feel—
The cold, the smooth, the slick—
Dangerous sensation of steel.
stalk the enemy, be ready
they’re coming for you now
fight the bastards…steady
into their midst you plow
But it’s blood, not rain that falls
When the shooting starts.
Patriotic freedom palls
And before me a red sea parts—
beautiful monster, you cry
shall I whisper in your ear?
Death is the name I go by
and when you call, I’m here.
Dragon Hunter
By Michelle Garren Flye
Crows call Mom! in midnight voices
But I ignore them, though they could be right
I’ve never done a DNA test
A cowboy in flipflops
I take to the street, hunting dragons
Elusive, strange, wonderful beasts
Slice through the air on wings of glass
Cut my cheek
That will leave a brave mark
But I fired first
It’s captured behind my lens
And I march on
hope
by michelle garren flye
just when all is lost and
the warriors are all gone
leaving dust and bones
swirling at my feet
“look here” you whisper
and I turn to find a rainbow
arching over ruins
as if growing from death
it sparkles like magic
made from diamond tears
wept by poets for politicians
abandoned in the quagmire
it’s a gentle misdirection
and I a willing participant
in your ongoing seduction
of whispered promises
I surrender to your will
surely nothing can be needed
when hope springs from death
and arcs over destruction
surely this is a sign—
the one we’ve waited for
that life will be better soon
that there’s always hope
Aging Grace
By Michelle Garren Flye
How is it that nature ages in grace?
How does the flower hold its charm?
Why does the gardenia smell as nice
When age has yellowed its form?
When the rose drops its petals
It reveals its splendid heart.
The darkened magnolia settles
To death with a very gentle art.
Oh why cannot we learn nature’s ways
Of passing quietly one season or four?
Instead we count and number the days
As if we are keeping score.
I hope we learn this skill as we grow older,
So in the end, we know how to be golder.
Photo by Michelle Garren Flye
Today is, in a very real way, a very big day for me. It’s my 25th wedding anniversary and the day I officially release my 18th book.
Thank you.
It’s hard to celebrate right now, as I have good reason to know. My 50th birthday fell right at the beginning of the Covid-19 crisis. My son and my daughter also have celebrated birthdays. Today I have no actual plans to celebrate. I once envisioned a busy day full of well wishing friends for both my book and my marriage. I mean, not as many people make it to their silver wedding anniversary as used to, right? And quite a few authors never see 18 books with their name on the front.
But celebrating is hard right now. People are still sick, still dying. I’m working hard to make sure I’m not one of them. I have nightmares that my family is. And life goes on.
And still, I am happy to announce the publication of my 18th book, Magic at Sea, the seventh book of my Sleight of Hand series (and still a standalone, so you can read it even if you haven’t kept up with the series!). And I am happier still to be married to the same wonderful man for twenty-five years. Rain or shine, we’ve had them both.
Rain or Shine
By Michelle Garren Flye
When did it rain?
I never heard thunder
Or wind or raindrops.
When did they fall?
It must have happened
Behind the scenes
While we were busy
Doing something else.
Something important.
Raising kids, living life,
Paying bills…surviving.
I didn’t know it rained.
Just like so many other
Things have happened
In the background.
It’s funny how you start:
Focused on each other,
Certain nothing will change.
But then it does.
Work and family and life
All change you.
And rain falls unnoticed
Until you see the puddles,
And then you notice the wet
And open an umbrella.
Wheee!
By Michelle Garren Flye
You test the top of the slide
And yell, “It’s slippery, Mommy!”
At first I think you’re scared to try,
But next thing I hear is “Wheee!”
I know how right you are.
Time is slippery, too, I think.
Each second echoes in my heart
But they pass within a wink.
My child, you’re growing too fast—
I know soon you’ll need to be free.
I feel I’m watching you slip past
And all I hear is “Wheee!”
Wisdom of the Baby Bird
By Michelle Garren Flye
Like an eagle or hawk soaring
We want to leap into the sky!
We don’t know what waits;
We just know we want to fly.
Hawks dive onto their prey,
Seagulls wheel above the sea,
Eagles may drift along drafts
Our senses cannot perceive.
Maybe turn our eyes instead
To the baby bird in the nest.
Standing precariously on the edge—
He’s waiting, not taking a rest.
Take a leap of faith—oh yes, let’s do!
But only when the time is right.
Stretch the wings out first—
Take a short practice flight.
Only then will we grow stronger,
Only then will we avoid a plunge
Headfirst into a maelstrom
Of dangers we cannot dodge.
No poem today.
But do not fret and worry.
Poetry returns.
🙂
Seriously, I’m kind of happy to be done with the poem-a-day challenge. Writing poetry—everyday, anyway—gives you a new respect for Emily Dickinson. Not appreciation. Respect. There is a difference! I’ve always appreciated Dickinson, but the volume of poetry she wrote is something I now respect. It’s hard to write a poem every day.
But on to other things. It’s May Day! Let’s celebrate spring in spite of quarantine. What better way than by anticipating my upcoming new book? This is my new romance novel that takes place, of all places, on a cruise ship. Lol, right? If you can stop laughing long enough, though, take into account that I began writing this novel three years ago after I went on a cruise to Alaska. It was an amazing, truly magical experience, and to me, there is nothing so romantic as the sea. So, if you can clear the tears of laughter from your eyes, here’s the cover and a brief excerpt.
“Do you want me to leave?” He turned his hand over in hers so he could curl his fingers around hers.
“I think it would be best. Yes.”
“I will then.” He dropped his hand from hers, but then he leaned forward and kissed her, very quickly and softly, on the lips. “I’ve got plenty to do and you don’t need me here. I won’t see you again before your show tonight, though, so I want you to think about one thing for me.”
She wasn’t sure she could think about anything else but how his lips felt on hers and how much she wanted to repeat that experience. “What?”
“Have you ever once worried about what would happen if this thing doesn’t work out? Or have you just wondered what will happen if it does?”
His words gave her a jolt as she recognized the truth in them. She hadn’t thought about what it would be like to be stuck working on a ship with a man she’d attempted to date, perhaps to see him start another relationship with someone else. Not even once had that occurred to her. Why wasn’t she worried about that?
Because it won’t happen. I feel it. If we let this thing get started between us, it’s not going to stop. And maybe that’s what I’m scared of.
He stepped away from her, his eyes still locked on hers. He nodded. “Neither have I.”
From Magic at Sea by Michelle Garren Flye
So go celebrate May Day with cake, dancing (even if it’s solitary, dance anyway) and singing. If you have a May Pole, decorate it. Smell some flowers. Enjoy life a little. We all deserve it.
