Monotony

I’ll admit it.  It doesn’t feel much like love when I’m doing it.  Laying out bread, layering meat, cheese, lettuce.  Slicing apples.  Refilling water bottles.  Granola bars.  Crackers.  Daily packing lunches to be eaten by hungry kids the next day just feels like a task.  And one I often feel like not doing.  But that’s love, isn’t it?  And my kids never wonder if and when they will get their next meal.  Never.  With tears, I am grateful for this privilege I dismiss as monotonous duty.

the happiest chirp

at the freshly filled feeder

humbled, I’m quickened

© 2016 Jennifer Wagner

For dVerse Haibun Monday:  Quotidian

Note:  I believe my haiku to be classified as more of a senryu since it includes the human element with nature/season.  Thanks for reading!

Wonder

a modern haiga for igwrt and haiku my heart

happy international haiku poetry day!

Lambing

mid-March,

lion dots her i

with a little sun

© 2015 Jennifer Wagner

wood smoke...

wood smoke

a flannel shirt

rests on the woodpile

© 2014 Jennifer Wagner

For Carpe Diem: Cutting Wood

Artistry

Photo © 2014 Jennifer Wagner

artist point

how a mistake can still be

so beautiful

© 2014 Jennifer Wagner

Above is a photo I took this summer at Artist Point in Yellowstone National Park.  The location got its name because it was widely believed that Thomas Moran created a sketch there which he used to create his famous 1872 painting, The Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone.  In 1890 photographer F. Jay Hanes published a park guidebook with the name and the title stuck.  The location Moran actually used is now called Moran Point. 

I was trying to convey the essence of that history in the poem, as well as another message which I think has a connection to artistry of any type: poetry, photography, painting, mothering…smiles…etc. that, even if it may not be perfect, it can still be pretty beautiful.

For Carpe Diem Arti-Visual

Trafficked

photo © 2013 Jennifer Wagner

she never knew a man

before this

hasn’t known a real one since

© 2013 Jennifer Wagner

“Between 700,000 and 4 million women and children will be trafficked this year, with the majority being forced to work in the sex trade. In America, there are an estimated 40,000 men, women and children enslaved at this very moment. If everyone who cares takes action, we can end slavery once and for all.” Don’t Sell Bodies.

“Typically known for coffeehouses and cloud cover, Seattle has also gained another title: 3rd most prostituted children in the nation. Experts estimate that there are up to 300,000 underage girls sexually trafficked nationally every year. These girls (many as young as 12 and 13 years old) are bought and sold for the pleasure of men all over the country.” Rape For Profit Film website.

Click the links above to learn more, raise awareness, help end this thing.

haiku my heart
Poets United: The Poetry Pantry

Yuunagi

evening lull

the steady creak – creak – creak

of the porch swing

© 2013  Jennifer Wagner

for Carpe Diem:  Yuunagi (Evening Lull)

Eeyore Drives a Minivan and Writes a Haiku

nobody notices

my windshield is a magnet

for rocks

© 2013 Jennifer Wagner

for Poets United:  Verse First, The Long& Short of It and Poetry Jam:  RockOn!

“This writing business. Pencils and what-not. Over-rated, if you ask me. Silly stuff. Nothing in it."  -Eeyore, Winnie-the-Pooh

Farolito

waning vigil

luminarias burning low

firefly prays on

© 2013 Jennifer Wagner

Farolitos, Jemez Historic Site, New Mexico.  Wikimedia Commons

for Carpe Diem: Hotaru (Firefly)

*Farolito:  little lantern (northern New Mexico).  For more about farolitos/luminarias go here.