Micro Fiction

Image: Courtesy of Grandma's Goulash

A couple placating

their differences

up in the mountains

It could be done just as

well at home if they

cared to be more

accommodating.

                        (140 characters)

Micro Fiction: Grandma invites us to write on the above image together with the word placate in not more than 140 characters

Written for Grandma's Goulash through Succinctly Yours Week 80 and Poet United's Poetry Pantry #117

Young Minds

 Image1:  Norman drawing a Still Life from memory

Image2: The end product, succulent fruits on a plate and flower in a vase

Two Offerings: 

#1 A haiku to wrap up September Heights in Haiku Heights

with prompt –free-

Young minds are amazing

I asked what are you to draw?

Fruits! He responded

But where are the fruits?

Here! He pointed to his head

He could draw free-hand!

#2 A free verse on people watching. 

I would relate here not exactly people watching but rather observing my grandson Norman when he went about making the sketch.

Young minds, young innocents

Ever so alert wanting to respond

With a high level of  imagination

Difficult for the elderly to fathom 

A still life drawn from memory

It is something fantastic really

Deftly he took the pencil in one hand

Across the paper a stretch of two lines

Glanced at me, smiled and confidently

drew little circles ever so slowly

turned out to be grapes and strawberries 

Bigger roundish blobs to the right following

an orange and an apple and a mangosteen. 

To hold back the rear a watermelon 

And a flower stalk in a vase, to maintain balance

Triumphantly he next began shadings for depth

A young mind still not that adept

There is an upside in free hand drawing

Anything goes anything to link

But the downside is, he is handicapped

As the shadings to profess depth

are mere conjectures falling back

on experience which he lacks

But he is learning and it’s a big show

For honing his skills the best way he knows

The path is open and only he to decide

What to pick on and which way to strike

His destiny with all stubborn persistence
The whole world wide open at his insistence

Written for Haiku Heights' Sept Ht's last prompt - free- and d’Verse where Brian is hosting on people watching

Andy

Image: sourced from google images

Legend of his time

Had helped the Osmonds to fame

The Moon River man

Won accolades but

at one battlefield lost to

the scourge of men-folks

Note: Sadly we learned of the demise of the great singer, Andy Williams on September 25,2012.  According to reports it was prostate cancer or some complications relating to bladder cancer

Written for Haiku Heights’, September Heights Day 29 P# 188 with prompt – battlefield-

A Cento

                                                           Robert W Service (1874 - 1958)

Image: From Google images

Note 1:  Sam at d’Verse hosted Form for All Collage and Art of the Cento where we are
to incorporate parts of poems of others and create one other. I had chosen  poems from Canada’s Robert W Service. I’m enthralled by his liking to maintain the end rhymes in his poems 

Note 2:  I elected to incorporate a whole stanza to alternate with mine  ( mine in italics )

Why should I be the first to fall

Of all the leaves on this old tree?

Though sadly soon I know that all

Will lose their hold and follow me

                                  (Fallen Leaves)

The realization upon hitting the ground

Bewildered all there is for one to bear

For all the love, the hurts, the frowns

Will not obliterate the will and dare

And if you've both, well then I'm sure

You ought to sing the whole day long

It doesn't matter if you're poor

With these to make divine your song

                                  (Home and Love)

And one will gladly be made aware

In line of friendship so sincere and true

Feelings of love forever to share

Discard the disdains of depressions so blue

In every throbbing vein of me

I'll feel the vast Earth-call;

O body, heart and brain of me

 Praise Him who made it all!

                        (A Rolling Stone)

Can it be extended all but with a plea

Long made before the curtain falls

Tread a little lest it should revive and flee

Shrouded and hidden a face so small

Note 4:  From his 3 poems  - Fallen Leaves, Home and Love and A Rolling Stone

Waltz

                                                                                Photo by Alun Hoggett
Image: In a Light Dust Haze , Combo Waterhole, Queensland
(Probably the archetype of a billabong under the shade of a coolibah tree from the song 'Waltzing Matilda" by Banjo Paterson - Wiki)

Image Source: Licensed through Creative Commons Attribution 3.0  - Wikimedia Commons (here)

Waltzing Matilda

A near national treasure

Of an Aussie’s pride

Written for Haiku Heights’ Sept Heights Day 28 P#187 with prompt -waltz-

Footprints

Image:1 Rafting down the Perak River from Chenderoh Dam to Teluk Intan  (here) A stopover at Kuala Kangsar
'Footprint' :1

Image:2 Taman Negara ( National Park, Pahang) Lifting a Tapah fish. According to folklore reputed to be a man-eater.

Image:3 Niagara Falls. Below the Falls garbed in their supplied raincoats. One invariably gets wet from the mist, sprinkling and splashing of water (here)

'Footprint': 2

Note:1  Negara and Niagara sound similar that prompted me to remember them together

Note:2  Two of my 'footprints' for which I had made postings

Stagnant in motion

Estranged to find a reason

Through a narration

Life’s journey retraced

Proprietary to oneself

But now to be shared

Footprints sifted through

Simmered to be released

Nostalgic countdowns

Written for Haiku Heights' September Heights Day 27 P#186 with prompt -footprints-

Lemang

Lemang is glutinous rice wrapped in banana leaf cooked in bamboo It is commonly prepared in celebrating the Hari Raya in most households. The Hari Raya (celebrated on August 19th, this year) is the equivalent of Christmas. Lemang is now considered a delicacy and are very rarely cooked by modern households. It's conveniently purchased from those enterprising enough to make them.

It’s an age old way of cooking somewhat a novelty now.Without lemang on the table on the first day of Hari Raya makes it somewhat incomplete.

I had the privilege of seeing how lemang was made sometime late last year. Mo, my old buddy brought me to a village on the outskirts of Kuala Pilah about 100km from Kuala Lumpur. Apparently he had cooked lemang there a few times before. He had mastered the delicate procedure and was happily demonstrating it to me.

 Image:1 The uncooked rice is washed clean. The water is drained and the rice is then left to dry

 Image:2 A small piece of the banana leaf is cut and folded.

 Image:3  It is then pushed down to the bottom of the bamboo. This forms the base

Image:4 The cutting of the banana leaf is the most delicate part. It is the cutting of a specific size of the leaf. This has to done by someone already skilled in doing it. It is considered a rare skill to be able to delicately cut the leaf to size to be pushed into the bamboo.

Once cut it is wrapped around a split stalk. It is then nicely pushed in. It is slowly pushed down the whole length of the bamboo. The stalk is then slowly retracted /withdrawn with the nicely cut leaf left inside

I tried to do the cutting of the leaf just to learn. But I tore just a wee bit maybe half a cm of the leaf. This was not acceptable. A slight tear would allow the coconut milk (later to be poured in) to run out

Leha, Mo's wife had in the meantime poured the dry uncooked glutinous rice to about half full into each bamboo stock. This was followed with the coconut milk to about 5cm below the brim of the bamboo.

Image:5  Mo is seen here pushing a small piece of folded leaf to cover the top before taking them outside to the backyard.

Image:6 The uncooked lemang are then arranged by Pakcik to be placed alongside hot embers. The ashes seen here are remnants of embers from an earlier batch. The cooked earlier batch are the ones behind Pakcik.

Image:7 Pakcik will later rekindle the embers with more dry wood..What cannot be seen are big logs in front of Pakcik cut into the right size as the base. It has to be the right amount of heat to make sure the filled bamboos are nicely cooked and not burnt. The filled bamboos are to be constantly turned around so that each side is evenly cooked. This may take a few hours. I cannot recollect how long now.

Image:8 The bamboo is split open and the lemang nicely cooked is cut into 2 halves placed on a porcelain plate

Image:9 One then picks a piece to be taken with 'rendang' a masala-like hot beef preparation.

Note:1  Mo is now in Birmingham. He left in early August in time to celebrate Hari Raya there with his grandchildren. He'll be back sometime in spring next year. Maybe I'll persuade him then to have another round of lemang making for the fun of it. I too would  like to learn the skills of lemang-making myself, oops!

Note!2 There were attempts to mechanize the process of heating the lemang. Somehow the proto- types were not commercially pushed into the market.

Written for d'Verse OpenLinkNight week 63

Sleep

                                                                   Image by Jennifer M Parrot

Image: Thoughts and Dream Reflection

Source: Licensed through Wikimedia Commons (here)

Snugly in bed at

rest lulling himself to sleep

Sanctuary of sorts

Murky images

Suddenly encroached the scene

Tussled to be heard

Good dreams in tatters

Consciousness in abeyance

Struggled to control

Succumbed to the force

Bad dreams manifest itself

Worry was the cause

Shared with  Real Toad's Open Link Monday and Haiku Heights' September Heights Day 25 P#184 with prompt -sleep- 

A Flying Machine

                                                                  Flying Down 2006 by David Salle

Image: Courtesy of Tess' Mag

Shall we see!

Is there to bother

Like no other

Flying down, flying up

Having fun in the air

In a flying machine

Seeing the world below

In myriads of colors

Going about their chores

Without a care

A wish I implore

To stay up in the air

The weather is good

The feeling is great

One is blessed, what a fare!

Not to be alarmed

Just a falling goose

In acrobatics, showing off

Offering some competition

Nonetheless, still a spectacle

To be admired for its prowess

Written for Tess' Magpie #136

Norman

 Image:1 Norman the budding artist

 Image:2 Hawkeye a superhero creation

Image:2 Another one, Captain America

Process Note: Norman, my grandson likes to sketch. He has good sense of the basics. He hopes to 'promote' himself towards using colors more, forthwith.

It started just naturally

with scraps of papers aplenty

the back portion of lined notebooks
and also proper drawing blocks

At his own pace he toys around 

A pencil in his hand all the time.

Use the drawing block I used to tell him 
Not to sketch on both sides to organize better

To have them framed would be easier

Kids being kids they treasure

Their freedom of choice

To be creative is not to be forced

His ‘repertoire’ comprises superheroes

And I never will try otherwise to impose 

The unexpected came by early this month

I decided to isolate my sketches in one blog

separate from poetry so as to be more focused (here)

The unexpected for Norman was a few days ago

when  I collected whatever scraps with his sketches

In my dormant blog had them posted (here)

He was thrilled!

I told Norman both of us are now expected
to chalk up the numbers and produce more sketches

He was in total agreement

I am thrilled!

Written for Karin's Unexpected Poetics at d'Verse and Poets United's Poetry Pantry #116

Hummingbirds

Image: A Ruby Throated Hummingbird

Image Source: Public Domain Images (here)

Ornate creation

Adapted to nature’s wants

A long narrow beak

Sauntering flower

to flower wings flapping fast

but stationary

In seach of nectar

propagating the process

of pollination

Written for September Heights of Haiku Heights Day 23 P#181 -hummingbird

Fences

                                                             Photo by Philippe Giabbanelli
Image: Lismore fences - fenced up graze lands
Source: Licensed through Wikimedia Commons (here)

Pent up emotions

Fenced in feelings

Forced on lovers

Curious incorrigibles

Fenced out hoodlums

Bent on mischief

Selfishly protective

Fenced up graze land

Fattening the beef

Menacing event

Fencing in whites

Duels of honor

Over the shoulders

Fences with suspicion

Trading on the sly

Written for Mary's Mixed Bag at Real Toads with prompt -fences-

Solitude

                                                                            Picture by SirrobO1
Image: A lone coconut on the beach

Source: Wikinedia Commons licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported licence.(here)

Basking in the sun

Taking in the tan

Lying by the sea shore

Not a worry no more

The sea breeze seeks

To brush by my cheeks
Constant lashings of the waves
Slow sounds in low octaves

Not a bother in the world

Free to laze easy

Nothing near from being busy

Moments of solitude

Feelings of gratitude

No one to intrude

Heightened my mood

Easiness held sway

Alone in a good way

None that I’m seeing

Engulfed all my being

Not a bother in the world

But then where is everybody?

Written for Claudia's Meeting the Bar at d'Verse with beautiful solitude

Protests

Groping aimlessly

Morsel of blind allegiance

Motley of events

Darkness stifles growth

Indignantly defiant

Ingrained in nature

Let there be light, ray

of hope collectively for

Man in transition

Note: A film-maker triggered off events of protests. We had hoped for peaceful solutions for Man is always in transition at any point of time

Writtenfor Haiku Heights September Hts Day 20 P#179 with prompt - light-

Island

                                                                        Koh Lipe Island,Thailand 

Image: Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution license as extended by the author Vasco Planet World Photography through Wikipedia Commons (here)         

Secluded, untouched

Exuding bright rays of hope

Island of beauty

Adored by many

Pristine serene and misty

Far from prying eyes

Not readily seen

Just rare glimpse at the window

Smiles are luxuries

A forbidden fruit

Uppermost, Mom’s approval

A courtship of old

Note: Courtship many years ago, from a distance stealing glaces, nothing physical unlike now.

Written for Haiku Heights September Hts Day 19 P#178 and Claudia's d'Verse's OpenLinkNights week 62

Life's Good

Image: Sourced from Wikimedia Commons
Released through licence by the author Americo Nunes (here)

Welcoming a day of tolerance

We are fortunate to be blessed

From morning till night
A little while a little while

None that we crave

For we found credence in

Little things we do

That spread the message

Most often ignored

Or just missed

Tossed by the wayside

Why must it escape us

A hidden power imposing

A will of constraints impacting

Bad Feng Shui afflicting our being?

No, rise to the occasion

Life is a constant struggle 

Do good, make good

We pave the way

For our own destiny

Others are none the wiser

Shared with Carry on Tuesday #173 with prompt a little while a little while, One Single Impression #238 with prompt constant, Real Toad's Open Link Monday and Poets United's Poetry Pantry #115

Chubby

                                                       Venus and the Sailor, 1925 by S Dali

Image: Courtesy of Tess' Mag

He was on shore leave

His ship berthed at his homeport

His old flame waiting

She was seen crying

Why love, let us have a fling

I need some hugging!

You did remember?

Before I  left we had fun

Not having the same?

No, just a dream, you

need four hands to wrap around

of what I now am

Written for Tess’ Magpie #135

First Born

Image: Sourced from Wikimedia Commons (here).

The day dawned early

A day earlier it had all started

She complained of searing pain

Inexperienced I could only lament

Heard say around the abdomen

Seeing it then for the first time

Twisting and turning, grimacing

Heavens dropped from the sky

This has to be it, I sighed

I stepped on the gas

As fast as I could manage

In no time she was in good hands

Snugly between the sheets

Assurance all round

the doctor, the nurse

This was quite normal,

they said in unison

Intermittent pains through the night

She took it bravely

That I could see

I got back early the next morning

She had been rolled in

I made a request to be by her side

Garbed in the hospital attire

I held her hands and waited

Immobile, manacled more or less

She could still manage a smile

Dr McCoy, eminent gynae

Kept repeating, ‘it’s ok, love

It’ll only take a minute, love

Hold  your breath, love

Push,yes,push,love

There you are!

A clattering of sounds followed

Scissors, stainless steel containers

Shuffles of feet

Movements of nurses

A slap on the butt

A shrill cry

Oh! such a wonderful sound

Hearing it then for the first time

What an accomplishment!

My loving wife, Shadah

My first-born, Adura a gift

A bundle of joy with blessings

from God, the AlMighty

Note: This was meant to be a reply to Mary,Serena and Brian, the early comments received  But I decided to include it here as some sort of an epilogue. There are lots to tell. It would be relevant I think to other subsequent comments as well.

"It was an experience like no other! I was told it would be good to be by Shadah's side. I was holding her right hand throughout.  Both our hands were sweaty and I was whispering lots of things which I don’t quite remember now, mostly soft prayers, barely audible. Beads of sweat slowIy appeared at the forehead and trickled down. More on my forehead than on Shadah’s!

I could sense the fright in her despite her brave attempts to smile to me. I was really glad I was there physically giving all the support. Which I thought was nothing much then ( but she later confided it meant everything to her)

I was on her side, I didn’t see what Dr McCoy was doing. I dreaded it. I thought I might faint or I might be in the way. I peeked back only to see his gloved hands stitching when it was nearly over. Phew squared!"

Written for Fred's d'Verse Poetics: First times

Creation

                                         "The Politicians' Serpents Tempting Our Democratic Eve".

Image:  Front page political cartoon, "The Mascot", New Orleans, 9 July 1887. 

(This media file is in the public domain where the copyright has expired)
Source: Wikimedia Commons

What likely caused the

figment of imagining

that God’s creation

of Woman as Man’s

companion was not a

stimuli on Man

to endeavor his

efforts just to please Woman

and in so doing

it evoked the ills 

of Mankind to spawn conflicts
that thrived since then?

Note: An all endearing question written in haiku form. Looks like haiku,sounds like haiku must it necessarily be accepted as haiku?

Written for Haiku Heights’s Sept Heights Day 15 P# 174 with prompt -creation-

Revelation

Awareness wilted

Community service waned

Pandering to self

Modern living, self

interest uppermost and

selfish in nature

What revelation?

Urbanized folks restrained from

extending a hand

Written for Haiku Heights Sept Heights Day 14 P#173

Happiness

Happiness is to be close to nature

Image Title: Children Look Carefully for Birds. 

This file (Children look carefully for birds) is in public domain, not copyrighted, no rights reserved, free for any use

Picture Source: Public Domain Image.com (here)

Symphony of  life

Juxtaposed of events

Most memorable

An oasis mired

in laughter, tragedy, tears

without exception

Porous, pragmatic

Testing and sensational

Ordered, disordered

Relive the trivia

Success and achievements or

shambles and mistakes

Makes life all the more

fulfilled, satisfying, have

it no other way

Written for Haiku Heights Sept Heights Day 13 P#172 with prompt - symphony-

Divine

                                                                    Picture by Petr Kratochvil

Image: Red Tulips, divinely dignified 

Picture Source: Random free pictures from Public Domain Pictures.net (here) where you can find more pics by Petr

Pretext to forgive

To err an onslaught to good

sense. Feigned to please

Disturbed divine light

Cavorting in sinful acts

Squirming in darkness

Sensed life’s tortuous ways

Divine wisdom called upon

to right paths of sin

Written for  Brian's dVerse's OpenLinkNight #61 and  Haiku Height’s  September Heights Day 11 P# 170 with prompt – divine - 

Butterfly

                                                                                 Photo by Jon Sullivan

Picture Credit: Sourced from Public Domain images (here)

Ruefully moving

Lone butterfly fluttering

Aimlessly tugging

To lament the end

Warmth of summer lingering

Left by the wayside

Making an entry

Autumn slowly creeping in

Presence most welcomed

Chev reasoned the necessity of incorporating a kigo (a seasonword) in a haiku

Butterflies are a kigo for Summer

Written for Chev's Tackle it Tuesday with inclusion of a kigo - butterfly-  and Real Toad's Open Link Monday

Public domain images:  All images are copyright friendly - safe images, not copyrighted, no restriction for their use, no rights reserved.

Breakfast

                                                        Breakfast, 1921 by Fernand Leger

Photo Credit: Courtesy of Tess' Mag

Breakfast in bed

Is it a fad or am I misled

Heard it been said

Supposedly a privilege

A special occasion

Accorded to a person

But it is the first meal

Ought to have appeal

To enjoy at a leisurely pace

Sitting at a table with grace

No danger of spillage

The posture is well placed

Would rather learn

For one who had earned

To respect food

To eat and feel good

Healthy and wise

For a meal that’s nice

Written for Tess' Magpie #134

Autumn Chills

                                                                                     Photo by Mary Kling

Image: Courtesy of Mary taken from dVerse

Spurs

Autumn's

magical

new abundance

Fulfillment and maturity heightened

Cheering fans, happy,some trepidation,

What is the dare?

Mindful that

Life is

Fair!

Note: Tetractys, a poetic form invented by Ray Stebbing, consists of at least 5 lines of 1, 2, 3, 4, 10 syllables (total of 20). Tetractys can be written as a Double Tetractys with 2 verses, but must follow suit with an inverted syllable count

I’ve chosen to write such a Double Tetractys of 1, 2, 3, 4, 10, 10, 4, 3, 2, 1

Written for Mary's Poetics: Autumn Chills in the Air at d'Verse

Current Feel

The feel is missing

To render a helping hand

A thing of the past

May  not readily

be expended by all but

only those who care

Neighbors are strangers

The rat race pushed convention

Out of the window

‘Bothering others’

‘Not their fare’, ‘loss of contact’

Likely excuses  

Written for Haiku Heights Sept Heights Day 08 P" 167 with prompt - render-

Signs of Autumn

                                                                   Autumn Sky by Amber Sunset

Image: Courtesy of Think Tank Thursday

Peering up the sky

Scattered brown in copper tones

Mysterious nature

From heat of summer

Toned down feelings of Autumn 

Defining moments

Nebulously lodged

Preceding cold of winter

Tolerable warmth

Man's life  given strength
Somewhat the roaring forties

Peak of his prowess

Written for Poets United Think Tank Thursday #113 with prompt - signs of Autumn and Victoria's d'Verse - Meeting the Bar - symbolism

Deprived

Image: A homeless

Royalty free from Microsoft Office free images and clipart

http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/images/

A familiar breed making rare appearances

Akin to a hermit’s life all for a paltry existence

A slow pace nothing urgent but a rendezvous

at the kitchen and hopeful for a bowl of soup

No qualms of meeting some old friends

just as unfortunate all with their worldly possessions

close by them bidding for some help

Responsibilities diminished.

Certainty of the morrow will be another day 

just as normal without a doubt of getting still another bowl

with maybe some handouts from a benefactor

To give a boost of expectations of some kind

To soothe the soul of one of the many

An increase in number by the day

of the economically barren, the homeless

Shared with Poets United's Vice-Versa #14 with prompts of antonyms familiar/rare,diminish /increase and doubt / certainty and d'Verse's  OpenLinkNight

Loneliness

Picture Source: Public Domain Pictures.net (here)

(Royalty free stock photos. All pictures are free for commercial and personal use)

Innocence shredded

Petrified of his shadows

Pangs of loneliness

Affected her health

Hair disheveled dress crumpled

His memory lingered

Winsome beau revered

Marauding thoughts ran wildly

Struck a vital chord

Guilt pervaded her mind

If only she brought herself

out of the abyss

She would overcome

Her resolve was determined

No more self pity 

Written for Haiku Heights Day 03 Sept Heights - loneliness- and Open Link Monday at Real Toads

Warmth of Nights

                                                                Summer Night, 1913, by Albert Bloch

Image: Courtesy of Tess' Mag

The heat of summer

Painfully tugging, pulling

Gnawing at the skin

Bright and breezy some

days, hues of blue in the nights

Colors blend in warmth

Parched lips on chap sticks

Refrained, awaiting slowly

Autumn emerges

Written for Tess' Magpie #133 and Haiku Heights' September Heights Day 02 P#161 with prompt -color-

A Rebel

(just a fictitious/fictional dialogue)

Yeah!

Whassup?

Ain’t no good

Failed us again!

But it is so against what I stand for

Look! You either shape up or you ship out

No! You make me

Get him out!

Teach him!

Punk!

Note: Tetractys, a poetic form invented by Ray Stebbing, consists of at least 5 lines of 1, 2, 3, 4, 10 syllables (total of 20). Tetractys can be written with more than one verse, but must follow suit with an inverted syllable count 

I’ve chosen to write a Double Tetractys of 1, 2, 3, 4, 10, 10, 4, 3, 2, 1

Written for Stu's Poetics: The Art of Rebellion at d'Verse and Poets United's Poetry Pantry #113