poem

Winter Hills

/ boz bozeman / 13 Comments

The most time I spend on the golf course is during winter. The local public course is open for recreation, so when it snows, the cross-country skis and sleds come out. I like to snowshoe. So the other day Anna and I had a little adventure. The happy screams of distant children blanketed the air. It snowed a little while I was shoeing, so it was a perfect winter moment. Four cold crows flew over, their black forms stark against the slate sky and white powder.

Snowy winter freeze
Winter hills contrast deep snow
Defining bare trees.

The tankatuesday challenge was a Haibun, which contains a prose paragraph and a haiku. My kigo words for winter were “freeze”, “winter hills” and “cold crow.”

Winter Vacation

/ boz bozeman / 7 Comments

The mission this week on TankaTuesday.com is to use 3 kigo words and write three Abhanga, with the syllable count 6-6-6-4.

Sunrise walks with my dog
Are from last week, or the 
Weeks ahead. Now I sleep
in: Vacation!

Snow swirls, frost whirls, fire smoke
Twists in winter spirals.
A phrase that sounds like the
Grey days and thoughts.

Picture friends enjoying
Boxing Day in countries 
That use "ou" for their
Labour, favours.

Happy New Year for those who celebrate 🙂

Kimo and Kigo

/ boz bozeman / 9 Comments

The #tankatuesday challenge this week is to write 3 Kimo poems, which have 10/7/6 syllables. Kimo is an Israeli version of the Haiku. The Kigo phrases we were tasked to use are “buying a new calendar”, “winter desolation”, and “trimming the Christmas tree”.

Buying a new calendar wondering
If measuring time causes 
Me to lose sight of life.

Frostscapes, snowscapes, beaten down winter paths.
My winter playground, someone's
Winter desolation

Kicking the doorjamb knocks snow off my boots 
I bring holly branches for
Trimming the Christmas tree

This poem shows a couple of my thought processes/ philosophies. I do often wonder how measured time puts artificial boundaries on my life. It is hard to shake the conditioning of the hours, days, weeks, months and years. Especially since I work at a school, with the Pavlovian bells ringing each period. I have no idea how to escape this cycle, but I do wonder about the impact of it.

When I saw “Winter desolation” I immediately knew I would flip that on its head. I love winter, especially snowy ones. I enjoy skiing and snowshoeing, but honestly winter hikes are all I need. Me and Anna the dog on the trails, crisp air and unlimited vistas.

We went with a small tree this year!

Here is a link to my new poetry book, Self of Steam

Great Pond State Forest

/ boz bozeman / 1 Comment

The cover of my poetry book Self of Steam is a picture I took at Great Pond State Forest. The pond was iced over, and the reflection of the forest was ghostly. I thought the picture evoked the title of the book, and the spirit of the poem that it is named after.

Click the cover to purchase my book from Amazon.

I call the tall tree in the upper center of the picture “Great Tree”. I came up with this name to reflect its location by Great Pond, but also because I believe it is the tallest tree in the forest. I like to stand underneath it, appreciating its thick bole and impressive height.

Anna and I went to see our friends today. The above video gives a sense of how towering Great Tree is.

This is Brain Rock. Another of my friends in the woods. I like to stop and visit with both of them. They remind me to slow down, clear my thoughts, and appreciate what is around me.

Winter Tanka

/ boz bozeman / 15 Comments

Tankatuesday.com is really helping me embrace winter imagery, along with the challenge of writing unfamiliar forms of poetry. And the counting syllables on the fingers. Multiple times, making sure. This time it’s 57577 – and you gotta give me “covers” as two syllables while “warmth” is just one.

Winter cloud covers
The thin warmth of the low sun
Light in the darkness
Clouds open and the frost shines
Holly branches sparkling

The third line is the pivot, meaning it should shift the movement of the poem in a different direction, but still relate to the first two lines. This invited the contrast between winter’s hard to love side with its great and sudden beauty.

My new poetry book Self of Steam is available now! I hope you will check it out.

“Great Pond” from my book Self of Steam

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This is the beginning of my poem “Great Pond”. I visit Great Pond State Park frequently, as it is a five minute drive from my house. So when Anna and I took a rain hike there today, I felt like I should post from the poem I wrote about an epic hike we took there one time.

Great Pond  

I am dressed for a hike
In the sunlight.
My gear is made for a crisp 
November 52 degrees. 
Long sleeve dry weave, 
Solid hiking pants. 

5 minutes in it’s raining. 
Sure the shirt is wicking water, 
But it’s not made for the heavy stuff. 
And 52 in the rain is different, 
Than 52 in the sun. 

The rain stops. 
I step along and look up. 
Contrasting cloud greys: 
Dense scudders looming dark 
Against 
The eggshell white background. 

5 minutes later 
More rain, heavy at times. 
I laugh as the dog and I  
Are getting soaked. 
I laugh because I believe we should laugh 
Humans should laugh 
When we’re getting soaked, 
Especially if it’s 
On a relatively warm day 
And a car not far away. 

Even if it’s 2020. 
Especially if it’s 2020 

5 minutes later it’s hail: 
Small pellets,  
Hat bill clickers, 
Rock tickers, 
Ricocheting off trees onto me. 
Not big enough to hurt the dog. 

Again I grin,  
A little more fiercely, 
Since unannounced winter is here.

Want more? The adventure continues in my book Self of Steam available from Amazon!

New poetry for #tankatuesday

/ boz bozeman / 14 Comments

This week’s challenge for #Tankatuesday is to create a dodoitsu. The syllabic scheme is 7-7-7-5, and we have to use these “kigo phrases”:

  • #1: “early winter dusk”
  • #2: “chilly north winds blow”
  • #3: “warmth around the hearth” 
Boots crunching the frosted grass
As I turn my face away
So only one side is cold
Chilly north winds blow

I wipe the crumbling leaves
Off of the neatly stacked wood
Barely visible in the
Early winter dusk

Left arm lifts wood to my right
Cradling against my chest
Holding the future fire 
Warmth around the hearth

If you like my poetry, I hope you’ll check out my book Self of Steam. <<that’s the link to the book 🙂

Excerpt from my new book!

/ boz bozeman / 2 Comments

This is from a poem called “The Spark”. I wrote it about an event in Hartford called “Other People’s Poetry”. Held outdoors at the host’s house, I imagined a young woman sitting in her apartment window next door and being inspired by the poems she heard. 

You lean in closer, tilt your head,  
So your ear is nearly pressed to the screen  
Like an elderly woman 
Leaning into her iPhone.  

Still, you only hear shards of words.  
“The Jabberwock, with eyes of flame.” 
They rear in front of you, these eyes,  
So monstrous that they are alight with fire.  
They will be with you for days  
Lighting your way with wild rage.   

More snapping. 
A woman sits, 
A man rises to the microphone. 
He reads: “There will be time, there will be time  
To prepare a face to meet the faces that you meet;  
There will be time to murder and create.”  

Murder AND create?  
How can they be in the same line?

I’d love it if you bought a copy! Here’s the link to purchase it from Amazon!

Happy Thanksgiving

/ boz bozeman / 5 Comments

For this weeks #tankatuesday, I reflected on a flurry that was spinning in the air as I took Anna out for our little walk before bed. I love these small hints of winter, and snow’s crystal nature and dancing ways always fascinate me.

I don’t know about you, but I would take snow over cold rain any day. 

The brief snowflakes swirl
In a dance of becoming
That changes to rain

If you like my poems, I hope you’ll check out my new book Self of Steam. Many of the poems, such as the title verse, are based on mistakes my students made in their writing that suggested poetic images to me. I would love for you to give it a try.