poem

Big Challenge from #tankatuesday

/ boz bozeman / 12 Comments

This week’s challenge asked us to write three tanka and use these “kigo phrases” at the beginning or middle-hinge line:

#1: “the first month with sleet”
#2: “late winter garden”
#3: “blanket by the fire”

Here is mine!

The first month with sleet
Hike leaning into the wind
Beard reducing sting
A mask from the intense cold
My head bows to Nature's strength

The seeds we have not planted
No growth drinks the waning sun
Late winter garden
A product of fantasy
No farms no food then no feast

Wind opens the door
Icicle beard melts in warmth
A blanket by the fire
Wine glasses reflecting flames
My warmth is doubled by her

Be the first to buy my new poetry book Self of Steam

First Frost

/ boz bozeman / 4 Comments

I’m back on #TankaTuesday. This week’s challenge is to write about the First Frost.

Frist frost glistening
In my headlights as I turn
Diamonds perch on grass

This actually happened this morning, so the timing is perfect. Although a sign of cold and winter, the beauty of crystals lit up in the dark warms the season.

Autumn Glory

/ boz bozeman / 2 Comments 
Fall leaves!  
I celebrate your splash of color 
Your delicate yellows  
Citrus orange  
Majestic red 

I honor you, 
Because your changing hue 
Is the glory 
Of leaves dying.  

I will not forget your verdant green 
Your spring and summer   
Wind dances  
Hushing and shushing together. 
The brief glimpse of your  
Light underside.  

And to those trees  
That have already shed their leaves?  
I donʼt blame you.  
Iʼm tired too.

Editing as Microcosm

/ boz bozeman / Leave a comment

I am hopefully getting near the end of the editing my first book of poetry titled Self of Steam. I am seeing this process as a microcosm of who I am creatively, and even in other parts of my life.

Each step mirrors how I work. Let’s go to a bulleted list to illustrate my point:

  • Hit with the enthusiasm for a project, I begin with full engagement, passion and energy. I will get a great deal done in a short amount of time.
  • Even when the fire cools a little, I am still caught by the glimmering possibility that is calling me from the still distant end. I work with determination, and look forward to building more.
  • The enthusiasm wears off, but my work ethic and ability to focus takes over.
  • I hit a major roadblock. Though I wrestle with it, it saps my energy and determination.
  • I begin to avoid the work.
  • I feel guilt for avoiding the work.
  • I return to the work, but the frustration is still there.
  • I finally get past the avoidance and frustration, and I get past the regret.
  • Project gets finished.
  • I wonder why I had to fight it so long, which somewhat mars the satisfaction of completing it.

This is the stage I am at with this website. I feel guilty about not posting, but I am a little overwhelmed by the prospect of keeping it going for a long time. Indeed, I am writing this more out internal pressure than any creative spark.

But this last part isn’t really so bad. I have learned about my capacity to create even if I don’t feel creative. This lesson may just take the place of some of the frustrations of my process.

Someday.

My first Haibun Monday – Equinox edition

/ boz bozeman / 15 Comments

I’m learning the Haibun form, which combines prose and poetry. I like this very much, since prose is my first love.

The challenge is to write a post about the equinox. Here’s mine:

Fall fell on its birthday this year in Connecticut. A twenty-degree dip in temperature in one day, cool replacing the wisps of warmth of a day ago. As if it knew its time had come and did not wish to tarry.

The sun is blocked out by clouds, so it is a grey day that we get half of. It’s been too nice for a lot of leaves to fall in the heavy rain: the trees’ green belies this sudden steely Autumn.

Darkness will do for the other half of the equinox. It is flexing now, beginning to feel its length stretch out before it, a host of days to darken.

Still I will balance
Rotating, tilting, spinning
Cycling through it all

Join the fun here.