Unless stated otherwise, all poetry on Swimming in Lines of Haiku is Copyright Kirsten Cliff and may not be reprinted in any form without written permission from the author. kirsten(DOT)cliff(AT)gmail(DOT)com

Tuesday, January 29, 2013

Mindful Writing Challenge: Day 29

this pile of cranes that I just can't seem to throw away
they've moved house with me, seen in a New Year or two
been blown by the wind and faded by the sun
been photographed and fondled and forgotten
but in their haphazard pile they are still beautiful
still created by my hand, and a small part of me



Monday, January 28, 2013

Mindful Writing Challenge: Day 28

this morning I wrote my dream down in a new notebook
with a fresh sharp pencil straight from the box
I noticed that I wrote neater and easier
that writing down my dream wasn't such a struggle
I love the way the notebook feels in my hand
the way the pencil slides perfectly into the ring-binding
how the cover is so full of life and colour 
and goes outside the boarders of the page
just like a dream . . .



Sunday, January 27, 2013

Mindful Writing Challenge: Day 27

the joy found in never knowing quite what a day will bring . . .
a stiffness to the mynah's feather he found me
that fishy smell of an unhappy mushroom
the strangely square centre of this carrot
lazy Sunday kisses on the couch




Friday, January 25, 2013

Mindful Writing Challenge: Day 25

As I type up my dream in the light of day I feel my reluctance to fall back into its cloying images. I find my curiosities and insecurities have followed me into my dream life, as have my desires. I reassure myself that the meaning will be revealed.



Thursday, January 24, 2013

Mindful Writing Challenge: Day 24

summer steps another day forward
the grass turns another shade toward brown
in the distance, the cows moo in another warm evening



Wednesday, January 23, 2013

Mindful Writing Challenge: Day 23

I feel tears coming as Lady in Red plays on the car stereo
I've heard this song played many times while I'm driving
but today it has touched me more deeply than ever before
I've become the words, the music, the singer, the lady in red


Tuesday, January 22, 2013

Mindful Writing Challenge: Day 22

so much in a day
so much I have seen
heard, smelled, touched, tasted
and what has stayed with me most?
the anxiety, always the anxiety . . .




Monday, January 21, 2013

Mindful Writing Challenge: Day 21

the hottest it's been in a while
this breeze just a whisper in my ear 
still the horses & birds go about their business
and I go about mine . . .



Sunday, January 20, 2013

Mindful Writing Challenge: Day 20

my husband's birthday: 
so much worrying to get it right 
to make it a treat, a surprise . . .

but I delighted in watching the fantails 
flutter around the old oak's trunk 
in search of bugs to eat 
while we ate our lunch in the shade

and I loved seeing the scenes 
of New Zealand in The Hobbit 
watching my hubby watch the movie 
smiling and laughing, wowed by the 3D



Saturday, January 19, 2013

Mindful Writing Challenge: Day 19

another sunflower ready to burst open and greet the world
so much life contained within that bloom . . . so much in me



Friday, January 18, 2013

Mindful Writing Challenge: Day 18

I feel myself sinking into the bed
my breathing is deep, quiet, rhythmic
although thoughts keep coming in
I let them wash past me, wash over me
all I have to do is keep breathing



Thursday, January 17, 2013

Mindful Writing Challenge: Day 17

his beaming smile 
when I say this morning 
that I noticed he cleaned 
and refilled the birdbath 
with fresh water last night


Wednesday, January 16, 2013

Mindful Writing Challenge: Day 16

the second person
in the last few days
to congratulate me
on surviving cancer

but I don't see it
as an achievement
it's just the journey
that I had to go on



Tuesday, January 15, 2013

Mindful Writing Challenge: Day 15

 today
over the phone
she tells me about
the funeral I didn't go to
because I was seeing a doctor
about trying to save my own life



Monday, January 14, 2013

Mindful Writing Challenge: Day 14

after wrapping his birthday present
i sit for a while and watch the mountain
let the breeze flow through me
let the words come to me
let the . . .



Sunday, January 13, 2013

Mindful Writing Challenge: Day 13

"dipped in morning"
it keeps coming back to me
the way he described the sunlight
on the mountains yesterday


Saturday, January 12, 2013

Mindful Writing Challenge: Day 12

finding a small stone
in a previously unpacked box
I remember the woman who gave it to me
as I hold it in my hand and wonder if she still believes



Friday, January 11, 2013

Mindful Writing Challenge: Day 11

i settle into semi-darkness
suddenly this beating rain
these thunder strikes
everything is shaking
but then a green light
and I slowly move out
from the car wash



Thursday, January 10, 2013

Mindful Writing Challenge: Day 10

I saw a ten cent piece on the ground
and kept walking right on by 
not breaking my stride as I thought
"A child, much closer to the ground than I, 
will enjoy finding this" and I smiled to myself :)



Wednesday, January 9, 2013

Mindful Writing Challenge: Day 9

that bird's call is annoying me today
my fatigue has made me sensitive to its constancy
I look out at the trees to catch a glimpse of its yellow head
 but all I see is branch after branch full of leaves


Monday, January 7, 2013

Sunday, January 6, 2013

Mindful Writing Challenge: Day 6

the tomatoes he grew from seed
how the flower turns into the fruit
turns into our food . . . 
I wonder who was the first 
to pluck and eat from the vine


The Twelve Days of Christmas

Here are the haiku I've been writing and sharing over the past 12 days at Gillena Cox's blog for her Twelve Days of Christmas celebration.

Christmas morning
 amongst the pine needles
a spider's gift


family gathering ...
the many sounds
of laughter


cemetery visit --
I place a Christmas angel
at his headstone


full moon ...
picking at leftovers
from the fridge


Christmas lilies ...
the way her eyes
light up


packing away
the Christmas decorations ...
another year without her 


New Year's Day ...
the bunch of balloons
hangs shriveled


first dream of the year --
i wake not knowing
which way is up


late Christmas card
call of a peacock
in the distance


somehow
in every room
threads of tinsel


wrapped up
in this Christmas gift, too
his love for me


holiday's end --
the spirit of Christmas
still in the air


Saturday, January 5, 2013

Mindful Writing Challenge: Day 5

I break free of the dream
and take my first breath at the surface
I search for remnants in my mind's eye
but the images are lost to the morning light


Friday, January 4, 2013

Mindful Writing Challenge: Day 4

today is Friday
today is a slow day
I take my smoothie outside
and sit on the sun 

in front of me I see
the shine of a half-buried marble
a backyard tickled with dandelions
a marshmallow city in the clouds



Thursday, January 3, 2013

Mindful Writing Challenge: Day 3

stained glass windows
give this church a lavender glow
i am moved to stay silent
while he sings out "hallelujah"


Wednesday, January 2, 2013