Under Summer Skies

Under Summer Skies

Under summer skies we played
fair and blue on Warrington Lake
we jumped in waters stained with clouds
swam through lily pads out to the raft
leaped into the cold and deep
muck sucking at our feet
while fish nibbled at our white skin
giggling and screaming all the while
of course, someone would always cry
later on forgetting why
for memories are always kind that way
when the family meets for summer play.

Hiking ’round the lake for fun
picking winterberries and wildflowers
while watching for bears
changing clothes with biting horseflies
lake perch that grandpa caught
with bread and fresh blueberries
this and more I do remember
wonderful times I’ll treasure forever
for memories are always kind that way
when the family meets for summer play.

© Rebecca Sanchez 2018

Thank you, everyone, for the summer skies and fun back then! Love always, Bekkie

Written for my family (you know who you are) in memory of my cousin Jay Banasyznski who passed away recently. I was happy to see him 2 years ago at the wedding after not seeing him for 40 plus years. When I think of him now I picture him as an always smiling big kid, like when I last saw him most.

Jay really hasn’t changed much here. Jay (left) and Uncle Gene (right) at the wedding. I took the picture of Warrington Lake on this visit to Uncle Gene’s place. Love you.

Written for the prompt summer with my friends at Poets United.

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Haiku #32818

haiku #32818

the warmth of springtime
payment for a long winter
life awakening

the big thaw come spring
good things come to those who wait
it pays to be patient

during Eastertide
I visit dead relatives
to pay my respects

© Rebecca Sanchez 2018

The image is my photography animated from my bike rides on the Bay Trail in San Mateo, CA.

A trio of haiku written with Haiku Horizons for the prompt pay.

Tanaga #31718 (Faded Clover)

Tanaga #31718 (Faded Clover)

I found a four-leaf-clover
I picked and turned it over
now I’m the lucky holder
both fade as we grow older.

© Rebecca Sanchez 2018

I’m not Irish with a name like Sanchez but I found this 4 leaf clover decades ago in Indiana and put it in this old prescription bottle (they used to be glass with plastic stoppers in my dad’s day) where it’s stayed to this day. I’ve never taken the top off but I doubt it’d hurt it much although it could crumble now. I think I’ll leave it be but wanted to share it with my Tanaga today.

Written with my friends at the Imaginary Garden With Real Toads for St. Pat’s Day.

Haiku #1518 and Tanka

Tanka…Nobe Okuri 野辺送り

a neighbor’s
funeral in new year week
fluffy snow flowers
from heaven
falling on his coffin…

©2018Rika Inami稲美里佳

My answer:

haiku #1518

snowflakes from heaven
a winter coat of sadness
covers his coffin

© Rebecca Sanchez 2018

Rika Inami is a well-known tanka poet who writes in her language and English. She takes walks in her native Japan taking photos and composing tanka about them. She’s also a friend of mine and a very sweet lady.

She posts her work daily on Google Plus and if you answer her work she’ll post it on her blog. This was my answer to her photo (above) and tanka.

Walking Through Doors

Walking Through Doors

The doorway arrived in the nick of time
at the stroke of midnight before the first fireworks
wide open, brightly illuminated and full of promise
on the brink, I took my departure.

New doors open to us throughout life
some require keys before opening
some demand a pound or two of flesh
a lesson learned, an entrance earned.

Sometimes we balk at the opening
without realizing we’re on a new threshold
like not recognizing the dawn of a new day
letting that door slam shut in our faces.

Cooling our heals in the vestibule
aware and anxious to make our emergence
an unmarked exit opens to the unknown
that first step can be a real bitch!

© Rebecca Sanchez 2018

So many doorways so little time. Written with my friends at Poets United for the prompt doorway(s).

Haiku #123117

haiku #123117

an autumn leaf
making way for fresh spring growth
falls, with a flourish

© Rebecca Sanchez 2017

This is what I used to make my artwork (part of a larger photograph I took.) I caught a leaf falling, not only that, but it had a hole in it I could see through. It was suspended there just for my camera. I think it’s magic catching something like this while it’s happening. Perfect for this prompt and the last day of 2017. Happy New Year!

Written with Haiku Horizons (my last poem of 2017) for the prompt fresh. Shared with Poets United also.

Happy Holidays And Well Wishes

Can you read my Tshirt?

Hello, my friends!

I’ve been riding my bicycle daily while taking photographs of my surroundings on the San Francisco Bay. I use my photos for my art and writing. The bike riding has been so nice the past few months it just began to get cold here in California. It feels a lot like Christmas today and I’m preparing to go on a Christmas Day ride with my long-time friend and roommate James.

I’ve missed you all and will be back next year to write. If anything, I am coming back rejuvenated and ready for the new year. I’m lucky enough to enjoy my biking year round and it keeps me fit and happy.

Merry Christmas my friends! My many “looks” as I do enjoy dressing for the ride. You can see how the weather has changed my looks.

I want to say Merry Christmas to my friends at Poets United, Imaginary Garden With Real Toads, and dVerse~Poets Pub I hope it was enjoyable. Merry Xmas to Haiku Horizons and the other places I drop into sometimes!

Thanks, dVerse~Poets Pub for including me in your analogy I hope to afford to buy one soon! I can’t wait to read more of the free version. My very first time in a book. It makes it real, you know?

Some of you I’ve known since Magpie Tales which was the beginning of linking with groups for me. Tess was a fun person and every week her boyfriend would read her poem for us. Tess had some “events” at her mansion and it was a memorable time. Tess Kincaid is doing well and living out a fairy tale ending in the UK with her “English Man.”

While writing in that group, people spread out to the above-mentioned groups and beyond. It’s nice to know we’re all as close as WordPress and Blogger moving in the same circles. We’re an impressive international group of writers I’m proud to be part of.

Merry Christmas friends! Enjoy it, the new year cometh and changes are afoot!