This week, I thought I'd try something a little different; a theme posting. 

Not all, but most of the haikus and photos this week are sunset related.

(All photos courtesy of Kristina Rebelo unless otherwise noted.)

 

Here's this week's heap of haikus:

 

 Sweeping 'cross the sky
lost souls in search of heaven
as daylight retreats.

 

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Thus each day must end,
to let each night begin, so
we may build new dreams.

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 Apres tour jetes,
a small ballerina stops
to smell the roses.

 

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On St. Patrick's Day
I think of Agnes Kelly
and of her journey.

Agnes Kelly was my maternal great-grandmother, who came from Ireland to America around 1880, lived on the Lower East Side and had three children.  Abandoned by her husband, (who later drowned in the East River), she remarried and moved to Benton Harbor, Michigan.

(photo courtesy of me.)

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Our connection to
the past may be much closer
than we imagine.

(One of only three photos I have of my father's mother, Sarah Anne Howard (born 1882).  I had never seen a photo of her until I found this one while flipping through my sister's baby book about 10 years ago. She divorced my grandfather in the early 1920's and died in 1938.  She is buried in the Naval Academy cemetery in Annapolis.  She grew up in a house right next to the Naval Academy. which is now a Bed and Breakfast and the story I was told was that the Howard family helped found Annapolis so I guess the family burial plot was there before the Academy. Another interesting branch of my family tree.)

 

(photo courtesy of me.)

 

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Glorious sunset,
you take my breath away and
beckon me to dream.

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 Don't panic when there's
fire in the sky; it may just
be the setting sun.

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 To be committed
is to fly through each sunset
in search of the dawn.

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The weathered rowboat,
Lodged in the pond's muddy dregs,
remains moored ... oar-less.

 

(Photo courtesy of me.)

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 Sometimes the world will
overwhelm us with beauty,
our heart seems to burst.

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 Moody clouds roiled through
the dark sky o'er the harbor ...
tethered sailboats bobbed.

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And then, a rainbow
swept across the darkened sky,
for the storm had ended.

 

 

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Silhouetted sunsets;
barren trees plead for fruit on
snowy coastal dunes.

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 'Wow, Freaks!, Really? Freaks?,
I thought they were now known as,
'Normally challenged.'

 

(Actual photo taken by me at the Oklahoma State Fair around 1970.)

 

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You can be sure of
one thing; real surfers know where
to park their woodys.

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Fear is a fabric
that folds under stress, and when
in hot water, shrinks ...

 

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What night ships do you
sail upon? What adventures
find you in your dreams?

 

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One of Life's perks is,
no matter how you slice it,
Coffee must be ground.

 

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Clouds surround mountains,
evergreens anchor the slopes,
temple bells echo.

 

 

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What he heard was, "Love
your harp, it's healing!" She said;
You're Hard of Hearing!

 

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A convent garden ...
a praying mantis climbs a
Jack-in-the-pulpit.

 

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Behind the lighthouse,
soft, puffy clouds dot the sky.
Sail the ev'ning tide.

 

 
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The dark before dawn;
lonely hearts beat quicker in
anticipation.

 

 

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Desire often hides
behind the structure of our life
seeking permission.

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The end of the world
will always draw a crowd to
watch the damned fireworks.

---

after each heartache
a glistening beach at dawn
eases my sorrow.

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The morning stillness
will soon enough give way to
mid-morning madness.

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As the chaos fades,
I pause to think hard about
where to go from here.

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double haiku:

Diminishing light,
the quiet insistence of
each small breaking wave

The tide coming in,
The day going out,  a bird
flies through the sunset.

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Muted shades of dawn,
the pier in the distance is
still out of focus.

 

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The day must leave us.
We must rest to prepare for
the struggles to come.

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Another day comes
to a fiery end.  Night soon
comsumes the embers.

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I sail into the
darkness.   The sunset leaves me
without any friends.

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Watching the sunrise
Albino Darth Vader thinks,
'Look on the bright side.'

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before-and-after-ku:

A triangle of
tranquility sails the sea
'neath darkening skies.

Shafts of golden light,
signaled we'd weathered the storm,
so, we headed home.

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The wind fills our sails,
we glide ‘gainst a golden sky
Sea salt in our hair.

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A tangerine sky.
Clouds that haunt the horizon,
lure me into dusk.

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A beach umbrella
keeps a lonely vigil as
the tide starts to turn.

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The deepening blue
gently quiets golden waves.
Nightfall approaches.

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The setting sun sinks
into the ocean, stealing
colors from the sky.

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As the setting sun
melts into the horizon,
stripes along the shore.

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A gritty sunset.
Smoke pervades the horizon;
San Marcos wildfires

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Pelicans fly high
above the smokey vista, as
the sun slowly sinks.

 
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The sun was stymied,
but blue skies infused the clouds,
a dark hope prevailed.

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Hard to believe, but next month begins the 7th "April is Spondylitis Awareness Month" campaign. I came up with the idea for the campaign after hearing a report on the radio describing April as grilled cheese sandwich month.  I vowed then and there that if a grilled cheese sandwich could have its own month, then by God, Spondylitis Awareness deserved one too.  April Showers = Ankylosing Spondylitis.  Perfect.  So I just started telling people that April was Spondylitis month and promoting it on internet message boards and websites and things just grew from there. Soon it was embraced by the Spondylitis Association and April is now recognized around the world as Spondylitis Awareness Month ... And that's the true story of how a grilled cheese sandwich helped create Spondylitis Awareness Month. There are 2.7 million Americans with some form of Spondylitis. That's about equal to the population of Chicago.