Category: Life

A Fellow Traveler

On By Al W GalliaIn Faith, God, Haibun, Haiga, Haiku, Life, Nature, Peace, Senryu, UncategorizedLeave a comment

Out of the chill wind, I lean against the sun-warmed brick wall. A brief mid winter warmup lures my thoughts toward coming springtime in south Louisiana.

limp banana leaf
a young anole warms
in the winter sun

feeling the sunlight on my face
I too thank our loving God

Al Gallia 2023

An impatient commuter honks his horn at another car! For the moment, I am brought back into the real world where we humans continue our endless, chaotic struggle of cultures, morals, religions, money and power. But only briefly, as then I let my senses flow back to the blessed solitude, peace, and oneness of God and nature, to the promised hope and deliverance of my Christian faith.

“Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find…”

Matthew 7:7

500 Times

On By Al W GalliaIn Haiku, Life, School, UncategorizedLeave a comment

Very proud to have one of my haiku poems in the selections for the this weeks THF Haiku Dialogue!

scraping chalk nub
writing five hundred times
“no talking in class”

Al Gallia
Louisiana USA
Starting First Line

Several of my elementary school years were spent at a Catholic school in Dallas, from which many special memories still float in my mind. The common discipline administered by the black-habited nun teachers for most classroom transgressions was writing a sentence repeatedly for hundreds of times on the blackboard or notebook paper. And then erase it when finished! Yes, occasionally I was sentenced to this terrible punishment which resulted in loss of play time and cramped fingers, and a permanent impression in my memory.

The Dandelion

On By Al W GalliaIn Aging, COVID-19, Faith, God, Haibun, Haiga, Haiku, Life, Nature, Simplicity, Spirituality, Uncategorized, Walkabout2 Comments

One year into our Covid-19 pandemic lockdown, how the priorities of my life have changed! No longer do my wife and I plan fun shopping trips, cafe lunches, or casual visiting with family and friends. Add to that the stress of politics and the realities of turning 80, and we are now living in a new ‘normal’, maybe forever.

The one thing that makes our situation bearable is an unwavering FAITH in a loving, caring God, and the love and companionship we give each other! And one of the best ways to feel and hear Him is in the solitude and beauty of nature, where no words are needed but only awareness.

winter walkabout

among the dead leaves

a dandelion shoot

©Al W Gallia 2021

The Stump and Vine

On By Al W GalliaIn Aging, Death, Haiku, Life, Nature, Serendipity, Uncategorized2 Comments

a young vine
stretches toward the sun…
does the stump feel it?

©️Al W Gallia 2020

Along the road at nearby Lake Martin on a warm spring morning, I see a decaying stump spotlighted in a sun beam. Around this old stump, a new creeper vine spirals upward toward the light, grasping tightly to the dead wood where it can for support. I remember my father’s smile. Life rises from death and will not be denied!