Friday, June 29, 2012

Man in a Tree



While my family was walking in the woods, we came upon this wonderful carving. I don't know how long it has been there or who did it, but I was glad I had my camera along.

I love being outdoors and observing nature, whether it be the honey bees pollinating, colorful wildflowers, gnarly old trees, field mice scurrying under exposed tree roots, or a cerulean sky painted with fluffy white clouds. This time, it seems the roles were reversed in a way. The old bearded man in the tree is watching us.

My "stone" today is a tanka. Tanka is a form of Japanese poetry. It is somewhat like a haiku with two extra lines added. Those lines usually offer a twist, a change in mood or a related idea that give it a broader or deeper meaning.  Though some people faithfully follow the syllable count 5-7-5-7-7 most modern writers simply follow the rule of short-long-short-long-long. A tanka does not have a title. Often there is no capitalization and little if any punctuation. However, if you google "how to write a tanka" there seem to be varying "schools", each with their own set of defining factors.


old man in a tree
his wooden stare follows me
as I pass him by~
some people never really leave us
memories etched upon our souls



9 comments:

Anonymous said...

Wonderful. How lovely that you managed to capture this both as a photo and in words.

Rosemary Nissen-Wade said...

Lovely! I like your reflections upon it too.

De Jackson said...

What a fantastic visual, captured in your beautiful words. So glad you were able to catch this, both in phrase, and photo. Wonderful, Linda.

PSC said...

Oh -- lovely piece, Linda! Especially like "his wooden stare" and "memories etched upon our souls" and how beautifully these lines mesh with the photo. Nice work! :-) I share your love of nature -- am thinking you might enjoy this poem and photo: http://wanponpopix.blogspot.com/2012/06/thrice-captured.html

Dr. Pearl Ketover Prilik (PKP) said...

"some people never really leave us" the sense of the connectedness of those we love - forever - and nature was a powerful sock in the gut - beautiful tanka and I personally enjoyed the flash of tears you inspired in me.

Heidi said...

How interesting!...Great capture.

Naquillity said...

what a perfect inspiration the old man in the tree became. i love both your photo of the carved tree and the haiku. both are to be celebrated. have a great night~

thank you for your visits to my blog. it's greatly appreciated. hope to see you again soon & often...

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julia said...

Oh i love this! and i love the idea of the stones. :-)