Metric stanzas, Haiku en tandem - Softcover

Ranieri, Mary Alice

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1490746331 ISBN 13: 9781490746333

Publisher: Trafford, 2014

Synopsis

These poems will be of most interest to those who love the traditional poetry forms as taught in classes from ancient to modern times. Rhythmic verses are often set to music and easier to commit to memory than more prosaic forms.

About this title

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

Metric stanzas, Haiku en tandem

By Mary Alice Ranieri

Trafford Publishing

Copyright © 2014 Mary Alice Ranieri
All rights reserved.

ISBN: 978-1-4907-4633-3

Contents

Chastising Earth, ix, 
Preface, xi, 
The Heart of Space, 1, 
Recycled Twins, 2, 
Aftermath, 3, 
Angel-wing Rosary, 4, 
Terra's Concert, 5, 
Gardens of Art, 6, 
Fog Mayhem, 7, 
Greater Light, 8, 
Mount Rushmore, 9, 
Predators, 10, 
Winter Wayfarers, 11, 
Ode to Jasper Tom, 12, 
Summer Break, 13, 
Winter Canvas, 14, 
War Victims, 15, 
Conservation, 16, 
Desert Rain (Haiku Duo), 17, 
Earth Meets Sky, 18, 
Self-Service, 19, 
Pet Showoffs, 20, 
September, 21, 
Divining Tribes, 22, 
Lethal Air, 23, 
Rescue, 24, 
Conscience, 25, 
Roses, 27, 
Wine and Roses, 28, 
Around Texas, 29, 
Oil Spills, 30, 
Bittersweet, 31, 
Musical Magic, 32, 
Journey of the Soul, 33, 
Seasonal Testing, 34, 
Vespers, 35, 
Advents, 36, 
Summer Sunsets, 37, 
Minding Trees, 38, 
Touting Spring, 39, 
The Child Inside, 40, 
Tree-house, 41, 
Rustler's Hill, 42, 
TX-Mex Window Trail, 43, 
The Hunter, 44, 
Awesome Events, 45, 
Fewer Redwoods, 46, 
Contortions, 47, 
Widowhood Dilemma, 48, 
Freshets, 49, 
Prairie Fire, 50, 
Storm Sequence, 51, 
Flower Family, 52, 
Cryptic Sea, 53, 
Saving a Crop, 54, 
Haiku Duo, 55, 
Chastening Earth, 56, 
Spiritual Awakening, 57, 
Divine Birthday, 58, 
Ebb Tide, 59, 
Fireflies, 60, 
White Moon, 61, 
Separation, 62, 
A Soldier Prays, 63, 
Journeys, 64, 
Bittersweet, 65, 
Seasonal Songs, 66, 
Royal Dreams, 67, 
Ballade, 68, 
Extinctions (haiku), 69, 
The Dream, 70, 
Demanding Rights, 71, 
Waterfalls, 72, 
Gardener's Infinity, 73, 
The Freedom Bell, 74, 
Pollution, 75, 
Home for an Artist, 76, 
Annie, 77, 
Sailor, 78, 
Old Friends, 79, 
India, 80, 
Dynastic Art, 81, 
Textures, 82, 
The Talisman, 83, 
Author's Page, 85, 

CHAPTER 1

The Heart of Space

Passing through rows of wheat,
We observe one heaving heart-beat:
Yellowed wisdom stored in grain,
In rocks and shells along the lane.

Plundering stone for silicon chips,
We open Earth's chambered crypts.


Recycled Twins

Collided moons foment warm dough:
Kneading their risen batters,
Pre-earth absorbs Theia's air,
Leaving her twin in shatters.

Spinning around their star,
Fusion withdrawal begins:
Dark gravity and cosmic war
Recycle a pair of twins.

Life thrives on its lunar beam,
Could Theia now rule supreme?


Aftermath

Awesome lull in wake of a coastal storm:
Twisted dross, shell heaps, limbs astray,
Sand crabs dig nests precisely claw-deep,
If seaweed moss has cleared the way.


Angel-wing Rosary

Each God-fearing monk agrees
to become road running refugees,
San Antonio bound,
escaping Pissarro's hunting ground.

Ignoring their losses,
Franciscans leave El Paso crosses
to nesting wrens.
Let us follow our Tejas friends.

With Yucca for manna, Saguaro for shade,
they braved iguanas unafraid
from bluebonnet fields to sandy shores,
to armadillo hulls, and horns of boars;

angel-wing pendants
hang like rosary remnants
from tides of the sea
in Corpus Christi!


Terra's Concert

Nimrods no longer aim for shallow skies
when continents clash and Alps arise,
orchestrating their crashing tunes:
tectonic plates thump scales
like rustic Nordic runes
or songs of hump-back whales.

Sediments encroach our coral sea,
devouring pink-flowering anemone,
splitting glaciers as glockenspiels
of icy rain with the flap of wheels--
Calliope pipes or roaring trains.
Bassoons and a strumming viola reveals
other stalagmite chains.

Over boiling steam from a lava hump,
Flutes flounder for notes ...
bagpipes labor to pump.
Kilauea awakens from sleep in arsenic mud,
Hula guitars warn of lava's fiery blood.

Thunderous drums release ground light ...
Oh, how we long to rise in flight!
but masters of gravity ... mighty earthquakes,
hold us hostage. We quiver like accordion shakes.

Angelic trumpets withstand huge hurricane winds;
we moan and sigh to hear their ancient hymns.


Gardens of Art

I
Artist cleans hake and sable
To store in holding slots:
It's time to sow his Pansy seeds,
Transplant new sprouts from pots.

Pansy blooms become a gouache,
Or pose for a more transparent wash.

II
Oleanders once flanked the old hotel.
Blooms of white and mauve have lost
Protecting blades of sea-weed green
To coastal gales and winter frost.

Terraced garden swept by moist wind
Has smoothed the wrinkled sand
Packed down by salty breath of ocean air,
Zigzag shaped--a woodland turned sideways down.

Beachcombers gather shells--sand dollar,
Conch and angel wing survive
Their tramping feet ... the coup de grace
Diminishes a Paradise.


Fog Mayhem

Windy troubadour
Serenades a waning moon,
Strewing sand along the shore,
Carving a dune.

Transparent dew--
Glimmering drops of light,
Dark skies hide stars from view;
Dense fog has stolen the night.

Cathedral silence follows autumn
Around smoke stacks and flues
Leaving only a few pastels
Of summer's vibrant hues

Pointless footsteps remember the need
For the blush of spring, forgiving our greed.


Greater Light

Star gazers stomp and shout
Around their campfire logs of pine.
A circle of Yin and Yang devout,
Swing their lamps to align
With invisible Life Divine.


Mount Rushmore

Setting suns bedazzle
Highway tourists, commuting,
But taking time for saluting
Their Founding Fathers. Reborn in stone,
Noses sculpt aquiline,
Square-set jaws, and firm-set mouths,
Their eyes reflecting Life Divine.


Predators

I
Translucent clouds, as gray as doves, soon meet
To spawn their floating wombs in a pool
Of milky air on windy wings seeking a foal,
Amoebas ride to earth on snow and sleet:
Some crash on rocky cliff and shoal.

Descending creatures,
Spawning, seeding another shore--
From pools of chaotic soup,
We specify ourselves the more ...

II
(tanga - trio)

Chameleons turn
Bismarck blue or stay earth-brown
Straddling a log
Laughing at Beagle's creased nose
Daring to race color-smart clowns

Prowlers blind to light
Owl, night hawk, opossum
Stalk the quiet dark
Mating calls ride on waves of sound
Ocean tern, sea gull, pelican

Silver island cay
Floating slab--Morro Bay
Hungry seals foray
Tutored circus fleets--now clowns
Quickly leap for thrown-out treats


Winter Wayfarers
(haiku en tandem)

Icy Nome's routine
Borealis flaring green
Solstice crystalline

Igloo water holes
Seals asleep beneath white sheets
Deep hibernation

Honeysuckle vines
Lilac blooms are gone ... starved drones
Marking nectar trails

Merry shopping sleighs
Filled with blueberries, honey,
Walnut-chutney treats

Northern flares, seals, bees,
Adjusting to wintry air
Fare their way to spring


Ode to Jasper Tom

He snuggles close to gaggling geese,
Emitting goofy gobble sounds.
His treble improves the choral bass,
As he grazes manor grounds.

We laugh at his a'capella clack,
Nick-naming this turkey, Jasper Tom.
White feathers interlaced with black--
Wind-blown fronds of a waving palm.

Refugee from one of the transport trucks?
Pampered pet, not even camera shy,
He tramps and prances, proudly struts,
Growing too heavy-set to fly.

Jasper's summer coop, such a flimsy fence ...
Winter lodge--an old dog house--loose nailing:
Wild hunger bleeds our stately prince
We follow a path ... red feathers trailing.


Summer Break

Fresh air of freedom, binging
On sodas and sundaes,
Leaving soft granny-wardens
To view old classics--bittersweet TV--
Bogie's Casablanca.

These three are banished
To summer camp!
Tucked inside a mountain vale,
Where youngsters thrive and never cry.

Teenager's angler-bait co-mingles
With bologna bits and floating chips
En route to sand piper beaks,
Anhinga pouch, or yapping terrier,
Like kid brother, ignoring commands.

Lassie climbs creaky stair,
Brown eyes of August
Following cheeky smiles.
Summer memories comb
Like twisted hair
Quivering in the mirror.


Winter Canvas

(Tanka Trio)

Snow covers Hemlock,
Aspen, Spruce, and Pine like sheets
Of carded cotton

Blanched and stiffened for priming
Artists re-create landscape

Feline Nook

Prismatic red warmth
'Neath bougainvillea vines
Surround veranda

Punished from sun and rain
Homeless cat has found his nook


Élan

Pour savory salt
Onto moody days add spice
To morbid Mondays

Erase all trace of sorrow
Let love redeem tomorrow


War Victims

Children need time to heal from the ilk
Of savage war, to listen to Aesop's Fables
While snacking on crackers and milk.
No bony knees need bend, nor empty tables
Be filled by those who reap another's sin ...

Small hands rewind inherited clock--
No longer a bomb set for annihilation.
Another tableau resets the clock, feeds the flock,
Salvaging a lost generation.

The pendulum now swings for peace,
It's crystal cleaning the whistle and wheel.
Resetting mainsprings for love's release
Allows slow passing of time to heal.


Conservation
(tanka verse form)

Soft hand of darkness
Long fingers sweep down to earth
Touch sleeping eyelids

Owl with spotted coat searches
For trees spared by lumber jacks

Beneath silent snow
Earth's rumble resounds old hoofs
Stampeding echoes

Ghosts of buffalo tramp their range
Where autumn leaves lay fallow

Spawning amebas
In milky air ... windy wings
Burrow in beach sand

Or ride snowflakes for seeding
Private pools with floating wombs


Desert Rain (Haiku Duo)

Hopi Kachinas
Hanging from Smoke Trees, wind-dance
To pattering rain

Giant Saguaros
Thirsty elephants store rain
Spiny trunks reach up


Earth Meets Sky

Scattering kernels behind a plow,
Farmers turn soil in May:
Bins of grain will store in barns
Concealing a feline stray.

Summer lets Autumn bring sky to earth:
Maple leaves devour pine cones in fields.
Dandelion fluff meets peeling birch,
Skylarks scan impoverished yields.

Barns now laced with icy eaves,
Goslings search for water holes.
Farmers ponder their wonderland,
Artists unroll their canvas scrolls.


Self-Service

Old waiter hassles with smarts
Wearing cut-off jeans, halter and shorts,
Pounding salt and pepper for speedier feed
Of coke and burger to quaff their greed.

Yesterday's Amish pride
Restored windmills, carriage ride,
Self-service relieves the waiter's load,
For the pace has changed its code.


Pet Showoffs

I
Vibrant Cockatiel
out to steal
the pet show prize
prancing about
showing his clout,
fluffing a golden crest,
preening wings of blue
and pinkish breast,
shrieking as he flew
past a startled a guest.

Any platform becomes a stage ...
Just so its outside the cage!

II
Calico bobtail's threesome
Had no first toy--a mama's swishing tail.
They soon discovered her ears
Would wiggle, if they but wail.


September

Fields are clothed in faded-green:
Cactus encloses fruit in spiny nettles,
White daisies lose their waxy sheen,
Black-eyed Susan sprinkles tawny petals,

Pecans shedding brown hulls,
Persimmons falling from trees:
North wind has lashed their hills,
Sprinkling goldenrod seeds over leas.

Grain and maize, poke weeds
Reverberate with chill. Terns wing ashore,
Nesting between tall reeds:
September pirouettes once more.


Divining Tribes

Sweeping caverns, assessing strata,
We dig Earth's boundless store,
Gasping at fallen graces
From mountain peak to ocean floor.

Tiny mummy clutches
Wooden shards of a relic toy.
We long to understand
His broken heart--this luckless boy!

Looting ancient lore,
Repainting murals faded on stones,
Piecing together pictographs ...
What marrow rests in bones?


Lethal Air

Smoke and smog,
What a pity! Red tide bog,
Overcrowded city,
Carcinogenic craze--
Breathless days.

Depending on nicotine,
Addicting this lethal taste?
Or ingesting morphine,
What a waste!

Tobacco swirls of smoke
Deprive the lungs of air.
We gasp for breath and choke.
This medium of exchange seemed fair
When unaware that lungs become inflamed
And the weed could soar as a market gain.


Rescue

Hate-filled wastrels wander
This earth in a morbid career:
They steal a jet-airplane
Tainting the world with fear!
Leaving thousands wounded and slain.

Neither man nor dog
Could fathom stolen jets
Crashing trade centers,
Crumbling minarets!

Tutored canines smell the fear,
Dig with frantic speed
Unearthing rubble and fiery ash,
To rescue victims of greed.


Conscience

History's primordial stew,
Clothed in denim of faded blue,
Lusting feather and fur,
Painful trap and spur,
Enraged gerbil in a maze ...
How soon will conscience end this phase?

Arena bets on fowl and beast,
Rooster or bull ... clubbing seals need cease,
As slaughtering a whale for oil or bones.
Conscience spins its wheel, while justice groans.

Blessing the Fleet for a safe sojourn,
Joined by seagull, whooping crane,
Brown pelican, flamingo, tern:
Let darkness bring gentle rain.

Along gulf coasts from Padre Isles
To Corpus Christi's body of Christ
Gathering on docks for miles ...
A feast, a prayer for a future tryst.

Pray no pirate disturb their peace,
Nor storms destroy a single ship.
May fortunes of trade increase;
May all enjoy a pleasant trip.


Roses

Our national flower
May climb a lattice-bower,
Or render oil in a bottle.
Its pure enzyme
Defies deep wrinkles of time.
Its petals of silk express pure love.
Its nectar feeds the mourning dove.


Wine and Roses

On squares of country wire
Roses garbed in pink attire,
Sprouting protective thorns
Inhibit wild fangs and horns.

Giant leaf of dusty green
Cuddles their purple grapes:
Wine-maker's dark rose vine,
The wildness of Muscatine.

Tasting the grape, smelling the rose--
'Tis all we need to slake our woes!


Around Texas
(Haiku en tandem)

Longhorns graze on grains
And winter rye--Pecos plains
Devour flash rains

Jostling shrimp boats moored
La Porte's barnacled harbor
Attracts manatees

In Old Laredo
We tarry in gazebos
Sipping tequilas

Whirlpools crash and roar
Stair-step falls fill Ingram creeks
Where dinosaurs roamed

Wild rose, plum blossom,
Dogwood wafting Big Thicket
Blend with scent of pine

Pain soon disappears
Muscles relax in Otine's
Warm-spring sulfur pool

Bighorns stake plateaus
Mist devours Big Ben peaks
Gravity has thinned

Does lead fawns to graze
In meadow dew--their shadows
Flee when sunbeams strike

Rio Grande plums,
Oranges, grapefruit attract
Hearty tree-climbers

(Continues...)

Excerpted from Metric stanzas, Haiku en tandem by Mary Alice Ranieri. Copyright © 2014 Mary Alice Ranieri. Excerpted by permission of Trafford Publishing.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.

Edition details

• Publisher: Trafford
• Publication date: 2014
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1490746331
• ISBN 13: 9781490746333
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 98