Author: Fran Haley

Autumn wings haiku

/ Fran Haley / Leave a comment

Familiar cheeping
at dusk, out on the front porch
-can it really be?

Opening the door
a fluttering of feathered wings
-the finches remain?

Should I be so blessed?
I shall need to buy some seed
for the frost has come.

House Finch with Goldfinch. beaucon. CC BY-NC 2.0.

House finches are regular nesters in my front door wreath from Eastertime through the summer; I have not been aware of their remaining so close by in the autumn months. They aren’t nesting now and as yet I haven’t ascertained where exactly they’re living, only that it’s somewhere near the porch. I see them fly when we pull up in the driveway, and when we open the front door. I can’t even get a good look at them; they’re being evasive.

Their presence lifts my spirit immeasurably: Take heart, be of good cheer, we are still here… the fluttering of wings was so near my face when I opened the door in the dark after hearing the familiar bird voice. It wasn’t alarming. Out in the yawning chasm of night flew the little bird, with my soul tethered to it by inexplicable hope.

The duality of slow

/ Fran Haley / Leave a comment

In my recent reading
I have encountered
the duality
of slow…

educators know
DEVOLSON:

Dark
Evil
Vortex
Of
Late
September
October
November

a mysterious force
an epicenter
impacting
gravity,
functionality

(=dark matter:
a nonluminous material
causing several effects
in space)

yet in my reading
I also stumble
across the word
Slowvember:

an admonishment
an acknowledgement
that one cannot possibly
do all the things
well

so one might as well
choose to act
vs. being acted upon

a recognition
a submission
a slowing of the pace
even at the edge
of holidays
brimming
glimmering

they are,
after all,
celebrations
of light
(=holy-days)

allow me
an antidote
in an anagram
or two:

DEVOLSON…
Solved? No.
Do novels.

Carve the time
vs. letting it
carve you

nourish
your inner light

it is only flickering
not snuffed
enough is enough

-evil? No.
A divine pull
to the gift
of slow.

slow down, slow down, slow… Victor Bezrukov. CC BY-NC 2.0.

with thanks to Chris Margocs for the DEVOLSON inspiration

Stargazing

/ Fran Haley / Leave a comment

The Boy and I
are stargazing
with our SkyView
phone apps

reading names:

Dabih

Mirzam

Capella

Aldebaran

Taygeta

Elnath

Tien Kwan

Betelgeuse

Fomalhaut

Altair

Vega

Deneb

the Pleiades

—makes me remember
that God knows all the stars
and calls them by name
I tell The Boy.

His face is turned up
toward the glittering heavens

after a long moment
he speaks:

I wonder what names
they are.

—Me, too, Boy.

He determines the number of the stars and calls them each by name. – Psalm 147:4

Edit your life

/ Fran Haley / 1 Comment

The poet asked:
What is it you plan to do
with your one wild and precious life?

The inner critic replies:
Things are what they are.
Can’t change much now.
Don’t even think about it.

The writer-soul contradicts:
What changes shall I make TODAY?
The possibilities
are exhilarating.

For, in the end,
one’s wild and precious life
is all about
craftsmanship

and
belief.

The cover of my daily planner

–with gratitude for the late Mary Oliver and her poem, The Summer Day–

Man and dog

/ Fran Haley / 1 Comment

On my drive to work
at the stop sign
where the grassy green field
borders the rail-fence pasture
where two horses graze
beside the goat pen
where fat little
brown-and-white goats
rest atop their knees
beside the still waters
of the glassy pond
with rising mist

I see a man
walking his old, old dog
(its body is black
but its face as white
as snow)

as I pass
they walk and walk
in the autumn-chill
of another new day
against a backdrop
of brilliant red-orange-gold
and moody sky

the dog’s amber eyes gleam
as it it chugs along
despite weary bones

somehow
this continuity
this reliability
this faithfulness
every morning
is a tonic
to my soul

a shot of goodness
an understanding
that in the far, quiet reaches
something is right
so right
with the world

Cornfield Man. h.koppdelaney. CC BY-ND 2.0.