I love Rika Inami’s tanka/photo pairings! She is such a wonderful poet and photographer, and I wanted to share her recent post. Blessings and peace, my friends. Click the photo below
2023年3月 短歌 March 2023, Tanka All rights reserved ©Rika Inami 稲美 里佳 ＜ This winter is over. 今冬が終わり＞ 1 春きたり雪のあがたの天開き重き調べの冬越えしかも spring arrives… sky in …
稲美里佳の短歌：Tanka by Rika Inami (67)
quivering sawgrass
Al W Gallia
focused on the same spot
we wait, the hawk and i
How gorgeous the red-shouldered hawk looks in the morning sun, so intent and alert to its environment! Yet it allows me to stare and marvel at its uniqueness and beauty without any apprehension. I am so thankful whenever Serendipity chooses to expose her hidden secrets to me as she did at this moment.
“A taste for the beautiful is most cultivated out of doors”
Henry David Thoreau
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 sunfeeling the sunlight on my face
Al Gallia 2023
I too thank our loving God
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
bare cypress quivering…Al W Gallia 12-31-2022
tireless wavelets scurry
before the icy wind
Lake Martin, Louisiana in the winter! Not an egret, heron, or alligator in sight. Sunsets, cypress trees, blowing moss, shadows… all provide such beautiful settings and colors for poetry and photos. Love it!
The complete absence of sound…the smell and sight of fresh snow…my memories flow back from my winter walkabouts in Montana! So clean, so quiet! Yet I always sense God’s nearness. I do miss it sometimes. Blessings and peace, my friends. Happy New Year!
Sitting on a pier at Perdido Bay, Florida on a still winter evening, i feel so blessed as the sunset kaleidoscope slowly turns.
‘raw sienna’ drips
Al W Gallia
from the artist’s brush…
winter blaze
I sense God’s peace and comfort settle in my soul, and I hear His whisper, “Be still and know I am your God. I love you!”
a seagull settles nearby
Al W Gallia
unimaginable colors
beckon my soul
I am very honored to have one of my haiku selected for Daily Haiku. Thank you, Charlotte.
storm clouds passing
a woodpecker peeks
from a dripping hole
Daily Haiku: Jan. 6, 2022
My friends…many of the haiku I am prompted to write arise from visual experiences as my wife, Bobbie, and I travel in our motorhome RV. If we see something special and meaningful while I drive, she takes photos! Posts like this are collaborative, with a bit of embellishment on my part, and works well for us! Her capture of this old tree along the roadside was my prompt in this haiku/haiga/haibun. Thanks, sweetheart..
Thunder slowly rolls into the distance after the cold rain storm. The old tree never wavered but held its ground as it has for over a hundred years. Water dribbles down its remaining bark, winding through old ridges and crevices and onto the anthill below. A crow circles the tree once and flies on. Somewhere across the field, a cow moos.
storm clouds pass…
a woodpecker’s head
in a dripping hole
©Al W Gallia
I pull back my rain hood, breathe the fresh, crisp air, and walk out from the dilapidated cow shed toward my grandparent’s house across the field. From their chimney, the north wind carries the aroma of woodsmoke and bacon! Picking up my pace, I have a happy “thank you, Lord” in my heart.
the old limbless tree
warms in bright winter sun…
woodsmoke on the breeze
©Al W Gallia
The first snowfall in a late autumn woodlands is a glorious sight! Almost a cleansing of the year’s trials and pains as translucent whiteness slowly overlays the remaining leaves, branches, and grasses.
first snowfall
a white blanket adorned
with reds and golds
©️Al W Gallia 2021
Standing alone amidst this wonderland, I can only marvel at one of God’s greatest gifts to mankind: nature’s beauty. I hear only the faint, pervasive sounds of falling snow, and raising my face to heaven, say “thank you, Lord!”
Silence surrounds me except for the chirp of a flitting red cardinal. From the blue sky, February’s sun filters through the leafless cypress and tupelo trees, imprinting the still waters with a kaleidoscope of browns and blues. I drift silently along, feeling a cool breeze and breathing nature’s scent.
winter swamp
a canoe slips through
earth-toned waters
©️Al W Gallia 2021
Searching for Serendipity 