Welcome to Haiku Sunday! No matter what the fortune is, I must turn it into a haiku.
Not to downplay the difficulty of this one, but do you know the one famous haiku where the last line is “refrigerator”? Well, I sort of did that with this one because the first word that popped into my head was a five-syllable word. Procrastination.
The other two lines weren’t that easy, but I’m fairly happy with the result.
Hope you enjoy!
Photo and poem copyright 2024 Michelle Garren-Flye
Make serious decisions in the last few days of the month.
Seriously By Michelle Garren-Flye
opportune timing is everything this month procrastination
My counselor once told me that grief isn’t linear…but it does happen. It may loop back on itself so that when you thought you’d entered the acceptance phase, you suddenly find yourself set back to the anger.
So, while I agree with my fortune cookie to an extent, I also know it’s not a super simple process.
To make the writing of this poem even tougher on myself, I decided to do it as an acrostic poem. I’ve never actually managed one of those successfully. Until now. I think it worked. I probably need to rewrite it some but it’s not bad, actually.
Hope you enjoy!
Photo and poem copyright 2024 Michelle Garren-Flye
Nature, time and patience are the three great healers
Going On By Michelle Garren-Flye
How long must this go on— every moment evokes agony of loss and heartbreak; remind me again that time is our greatest healer
and nature will help fade the clarity that loses its draw when harking back to previous eras only brings pain.
Help will come, but be patient, endure each day knowing authentic healing happens with living. Seasons pass, life does go on.
I was stuck on this one for a while, but I decided to try it as a villanelle. That worked. Sort of.
Photo and poem copyright 2024 Michelle Garren-Flye
Never compare yourself to the best others can do, but to the best you can do.
Winning By Michelle Garren-Flye
I win again, don’t try to deny it! My victory doesn’t have to be scored; I won against myself, you should try it!
Numbers aren’t needed if I supply it… but there you go, acting like you’re bored. No matter, I win, you can’t deny it.
The world should rejoice with my win while it is still fresh; I’m ready to be adored! I won against myself, you should try it.
You can’t take it away or define it. I know I have won, my inner crowd roared! I win again, don’t try to deny it.
Now don’t worry about what that guy hit; his score doesn’t matter, it’s my record. I won against myself, you should try it.
For self-improvement this works, apply it and your faith in yourself will be restored. I win again, don’t try to deny it; I won against myself, you should try it.
Again, I drew a blank on this one. I felt a little bit targeted, actually, as I struggle every single day with this issue. Too many yesterdays behind me, too many tomorrows ahead. My lines are all crooked.
So this was a good exercise for me. Because my complaints are really fairly small and temporary.
I won’t lie, it started out as a sonnet, but the rhyme scheme didn’t work out, so I ended up making it a four-stanza quatrain poem.
Hope you enjoy!
Photo and poem copyright 2024 Michelle Garren-Flye
Love yourself first and everything falls into line.
Loving Life By Michelle Garren-Flye
The wild, windy walk uncurled your hair, but don’t cry about life not being fair. Over the weekend you gained a pound, but that’s no reason to come unwound.
You had to skip dance class to mow the lawn, but it’s no use being sad or withdrawn. So what if your accountant says you may owe tax? Sometimes things fall through cracks.
After all, the walk was fun to take, And that pound came from a birthday cake. Your lawn looks green in today’s rain, and taxes were once paid in grain.
To be honest, you’re really not that bad! Loving life you do well, I might add. You’re doing good, everyone’s fine; all your ducks are in a line.
As soon as I read today’s fortune, I remembered one particular night. You see, I love to laugh, but sometimes I think I’ve forgotten how. Then I have a moment when laughter lights up my heart again. I know this fortune is true, but I don’t always know how to make it true for myself.
Maybe that’s how we all are, to a certain extent. Surviving day to day.
I can say that nine times out of ten, when I find myself in that warm light of laughter, it’s with my kids, the human beings I love most in this world. And that’s what this poem is about.
I chose to write it in haibun format, which was invented by Matsuo Basho, the master of the haiku. A haibun is a prose poem and a haiku smashed together. I’ve attempted them before. I think this one works, to a certain extent.
I hope you enjoy it, anyway!
Photo and poem copyright 2024 Michelle Garren-Flye
laughter shall fuel your spirit’s engine By Michelle Garren-Flye
They dragged you out, these children who have grown into friends. You’re usually bathed and in bed by now. Tomorrows are always full. You have to be ready. But they want to have fun. They want you to have fun, but fun is not something you practice. There are too many tomorrows ahead, too many yesterdays behind.
The golf place is full, but you have a reservation. They serve beer, so you have some, hoppy smells tickling your nose hairs. The lights are bright, and there is a heater nearby so even though you’re outside in January and there will be snow tomorrow, you take off your coat. Frustration mounts with every golf swing, until your oldest son misses the ball entirely and yells, “Fun!”
And there it is, bubbling around you, the energy needed to fuel your spirit, as first you and then your children who are now adults and friends—your yesterdays and your tomorrows—shout it together, hurl it into the night air with the white golf balls hailing onto the astroturf:
giggling bubbles burble in your life spirit laughter is your peace
Finally, a fortune that makes a good title, too! And definitely one I enjoyed. Just yesterday I was thinking about all the things I want to do, places I want to go. And I was making some big plans. When I retire, I’m going to do as many of them as I can.
In the meantime, I had fun with this fortune. I think this poem spells out what I always imagined my retired life would be like. So here we go!
Photo and Poem Copyright 2024 Michelle Garren-Flye
Make Big Plans By Michelle Garren-Flye
Let’s make big plans for someday. Together we’ll travel round the world and stop where we want to play then spend each night curled
by a fireplace in some remote cabin on top of a mountain, who knows where? We just have to make it happen so we can breathe in all that fresh air
out on the sea, sailing in a big ship from country to country, shore to shore. Don’t doubt my ability to make this trip real—reality really doesn’t matter anymore.
ETA: It was brought to my attention that I neglected to attach the poem…it’s here now. Sorry about that!
Laughing is one of my favorite things to do. It’s good exercise, right? It’s also hard to make yourself do when you don’t feel it. In fact, I think making yourself cry is probably easier than making yourself laugh.
So, this fortune is right up there with “You’re more attractive when you smile” for me. Yeah, it’d be great to laugh everyday, but life sometimes doesn’t allow for that.
With that said, maybe my sonnet will sense.
Photo and poem copyright 2024 Michelle Garren-Flye
Make sure to laugh everyday…it’s good for your health.
Lifestyle Choices By Michelle Garren-Flye
Why not just laugh and sing and play all day? It’s good for your health, your outlook, and life. Take a moment, is all I want to say, for merriment and to avoid the strife.
Love and life are difficult? Oh come on! I’m sure you can find a reason to laugh… Just find the funny stuff on which to fawn— wait, I’ll find it myself on your behalf.
Look, here’s a puppy playing on a meme, a cat in a bag, a man falling down. There is plenty more along the same theme! Use stuff like this to wipe away your frown.
A giggle or two is all that it takes. Laughter costs nothing, and fixes heartaches.
Welcome to Haiku Sunday! I’ve decided as an extra challenge to designate Sundays for haiku. No matter what the fortune, I must write a haiku inspired by it. Today’s was very difficult but I finally settled on my double-edged sword idea. The idea being that you’re likely to judge yourself either more or less harshly than you’d judge another person.
This is not my best haiku…and it even has a little joke of an extra syllable. Definitely not my best effort.
Photo and poem copyright 2024 Michelle Garren-Flye.
It is much more difficult to judge oneself than to judge others.
Double-edged Sword By Michelle Garren-Flye
double-edged sword cuts for and against self-judgment you wilt ‘neath its edge…s
Another long one that threw me off. I’m actually not negotiating for anything in particular right now, so I started thinking about St. Peter and the Pearly Gates and how I could negotiate my way into heaven when that time comes. As I am very much a human with the usual foibles, I can see how it might be a difficult sell, but maybe this fortune is telling me it’ll come out okay.
Photo and poem copyright 2024 Michelle Garren-Flye
Negotiations move along smoothly. The outcome is favorable!
A Conversation with St. Peter By Michelle Garren-Flye
Yes, I killed spiders and the occasional mouse. I couldn’t help it…they were in my house! But think of the turtles I stopped to save on the side of the road…the time I gave!
I guess you could say I drank too much wine in my vain attempt to make myself feel fine. The Sabbath was just a day to sleep late; I didn’t really think I was making God wait.
I did give to charity—when I was asked. Sometimes I volunteered without being tasked. I’m not craven or evil or bad or corrupt, so think about that as you measure me up.
Today’s fortune is much too long to be a proper poem title, and maybe that’s why I had to give it a bit more thought. I know it refers to war, but my mind went to one of those merry-go-round things on a playground when I thought of revolutions. Nope, despair ain’t gonna turn one of those around. You definitely have to have hope backing you up, specifically hope that if you spend a bunch of energy getting it going good, you can then hop on and flop on your back and enjoy the ride.
So that’s where “Spin Cycle” came from. I wrote it in a sort of ghazal format. I’m still not sure I’m writing ghazals correctly. There are a lot of rules, and if I didn’t follow all of them, this poem is five couplets with a weird rhyme scheme.
Enjoy!
Photo and poem copyright 2024 Michelle Garren-Flye
It is hope, not despair, which makes successful revolutions.
Spin Cycle By Michelle Garren-Flye
I’ll spin around, right round, I won’t lose heart; Spin right back to the start and never lose heart.
It’s hope that keeps me going, you see, around in a circle, refusing to lose heart.
Despair drags me down, right to the ground, but hope lifts me up, won’t let me lose heart.
Come spin with me on this cycle of life; take my hands, remember, you can’t lose heart.
I’ll spin so fast, my feet will leave earth, fly away, leave it all behind, my lost heart.
BREATHE: Michelle Garren-Flye 