SPLINTERS FOR APRIL 2023

  1. Try your creativity by beginning with a preposition for every line in a stanza but the last as Kathleen Roxby does in THE STORYTELLER, the keeper of histories for the first week of April. The pattern for her poem is four stanzas of three lines each beginning with a unique preposition and a fourth line which is the same for each stanza.
  2. Create a poem based on your name. See Kathleen Roxby’s My Name this month.
  3. Try your skill with the syllable haiku using 5 syllables in the first line, 7 in the second and 5 in the last. Haikus tend to focus on nature and the final line is often a twist on what has proceeded. There are four example of haiku on the site this month.
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APRIL RAIN

a soft morning rain

like windswept marsh grass rustling

brushes the windows

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TWO HAIKUS

A feather blows by

Choreographed in blue light

Wind flowing softly

 

The golden harp sings

A blossom adorns the tree

Grass grows from the ash

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MEADOW MEMORY

Though the fence spoke “stay out”

That meadow was far too inviting

On this fresh bright morning in Spring

The grass was knee deep here and there

With a springy softness to its earth

In a clear spot, lying face down

I saw the tiniest flowers I ever saw

The sunlight made the leaves bright and green

Then just inside a wooded grove across

A field of bleeding hearts stopped me quick

I know not how long I tarried there

But the world seemed to fill with joy

I press that memory into my heart

That I might revisit it from time to time

And now, you also share my memory

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AUTHOR NOTES

GLASS RAIN—the poetry by Margaret Roxby

“TWO HAIKUS” is included this week for April 18, National Haiku Poetry. These two poems represents early efforts of the poet to produce in English the experience of a haiku written in the language and spirit of its origin. The poem was found among the author’s papers.

REFRACTIONS—the poetry of Robert Roxby

“MEADOW MEMORY” was found in the poet’s journal with a note that this particular memory is from a 1934 hike into the woods. Like many of his poems, it reflects his love of nature. The poem is included this week for April 22, International Mother Earth Day.

THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS—the poetry of Kathleen Roxby

“APRIL RAIN,” began as the author’s attempt to write a haiku for each season focusing on rain. Even though the syllable count of line two fails to meet the criteria, she decided she liked it enough as is to leave it alone.

 

 

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SPLINTERS FOR APRIL 2023

  1. Try your creativity by beginning with a preposition for every line in a stanza but the last as Kathleen Roxby does in THE STORYTELLER, the keeper of histories for the first week of April. The pattern for her poem is four stanzas of three lines each beginning with a unique preposition and a fourth line which is the same for each stanza.
  2. Create a poem based on your name. See Kathleen Roxby’s My Name this month.
  3. Try your skill with the syllable haiku using 5 syllables in the first line, 7 in the second and 5 in the last. Haikus tend to focus on nature and the final line is often a twist on what has proceeded. There are four example of haiku on the site this month.
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SUBMISSION GUIDELINES

Readers who write in response to one of the prompts listed each month in Splintered Glass, may see their work presented here on the last week of that month. Though poems are preferred, short prose work will also be considered for publication.

Guidelines for submission:

  1. List Splintered Glass prompt which inspired the work in the text of your email.
  2. Submit material to be published as Microsoft Word document. Submission should not be longer than one page. Editing will not be provided, please be careful.
  3. Include two brief sentences about the author. Example: Michael Whozits is the author of A Book and The Curl, a blog. He is a retired pilot and avid surfer.
  4. Submission must arrive no later than the 3rd Wednesday of the month in which the Splintered Glass prompt appeared. Only one reader’s submission will be selected for any given month.
  5. Send submission to karoxby@gmail.com.

 

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MY NAME

Read more

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HAIKU AT MIDNIGHT

Lonely night street sound

An old man coughs…then moves on

A silence remains

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WALK INTO THE WILD WITH ME

Walk into the wild with me

Animals in here are shy indeed.

Some are hidden by size alone.

Now stay and visit for a while.

Above all else, please, be quiet,

As nature nearly always whispers here.

Tree leaves rustle ever so softly

As water runs by in musical tones.

Birds aloft are constantly chirping.

Then, somewhere, a tree creaks then cracks

To break the silence with a thud.

A different sound announces the presence

Of an animal, noisily slaking its thirst.

The sunlight, in peeking through the trees

Stripes all of the air in the glen

And dapples every bit of ground below.

A squirrel appears, gazes warily about

Then quickly flies off to a tree.

And while we are walking though the glen,

A few mint leaves are crushed

Sharpening each and every breath we take.

Wildflowers all about leave a perfume,

Reminding us of our perennial love affair.

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