Hoku For Sali
A Goddess Dwells Within You
And She Is So Beautiful
© Ken Chawkin
September 24, 2011
Fairfield, Iowa
Also see Haiku For Sali and Sally’s Smile (Haiku for Nurse Dan)
Archive for the ‘My poems’ Category
Hoku For Sali
September 24, 2011Haiku For Sali
September 23, 2011Haiku For Sali
We are true lovers
You are the key that unlocks
The Beauty in me
© Ken Chawkin
September 23, 2011
Fairfield, Iowa
Also see Hoku For Sali and Sally’s Smile (Haiku for Nurse Dan)
Sally’s Smile (Haiku for Nurse Dan)
September 23, 2011Whenever Nurse Dan came into Sally’s room to dispense her meds, he would cheerfully call out her name and greet her with a big smile. We were always happy to see him and Sally would light up. Dan told us he was going to be leaving the facility to work at just his other job. But he added there was one thing he was going to miss around here, and that was Sally’s smile. Sally does have a beautiful smile, and I thought that was a great title for a poem. So as soon as Dan left the room I wrote this haiku and dedicated it to him. The first two lines came easily, but I had to think about what was really going on when Sally smiled at someone who acknowledged her. She watched me writing and saying it to myself. When I read it to her, she quietly said, “Thank you.”
Sally’s Smile
(Haiku for Nurse Dan)
Flooded with Sunshine
From the Glow of Sally’s Smile
You Know Your Own Worth
© Ken Chawkin
September 22, 2011
In the presence of my muse,
Sali M. Peden
Also see: Sweet Haiku for Sali | Haiku For Sali | Hoku For Sali
See these newer poems: Sali’s Nature and Tanka For Sali Upholding Her Wonderful Nature.
POEM OF THE DAY: Poetry – The Art of the Voice, by Ken Chawkin
September 18, 2011Here’s the POEM OF THE DAY, presented by THIS ENDURING GIFT, A Flowering of Fairfield Poetry, 76 Poets Who Found Common Ground in One Small Prairie Town:
How fine will your breath become
from listening to these words?
How soft will they seem to be
as they settle through the mind
like silent snowflakes falling
from a windless winter sky?
I often marvel at the mystery—
how words can work
on a listener’s heart and mind,
upon hearing a poet’s thoughts,
a poet’s breath, flowing
from an inner voice—
a windless wind, speaking
through a voiceless voice.
Published in This Enduring Gift, 2010
http://www.thisenduringgift.com/poetry-the-art-of-the-voice.html
“This Enduring Gift is a testament to the abiding power of poetry within a particularly unique community and, by extension, speaks to poetry’s universal relevance. Here, a convergence of voices from places near and far, gathered in a small Midwestern town, observe, reflect, meditate, and wonder. From evocative lyrics to compelling narratives, from precise moments of deeply felt experience to inquiries of mystical complexities, these poems resonate with individual authenticity and true collective spirit.”
— Walter E. Butts, 2009-2014 Poet Laureate of New Hampshire
Enjoy and share these POEMS OF THE DAY with friends and poetry lovers you know.
Freddy Niagara Fonseca
PO Box 1271
Fairfield, IA 52556
641-472-7634
operafred@lisco.com
Creator of
Fairfield’s No. 1 Bestselling Poetry Book
THIS ENDURING GIFT
A Flowering of Fairfield Poetry
76 Poets Who Found Common Ground in One Small Prairie Town
Published in 2010 by 1st World Publishing
To purchase THIS ENDURING GIFT, go to http://www.thisenduringgift.com
Also available in Fairfield at Revelations Cafe & Bookstore
If you click on the link to the Poem of the Day you’ll notice only two stanzas of 6 and 8 lines each, which is the way I had originally written it. Below is an explanation I had emailed friends for this change into three stanzas, a newer final version:
The Power of The Pen, by Ken Chawkin
July 3, 2011
Indonesian Mystery Poem honoring Nyi Roro Kidul
April 12, 2011Indonesian Mystery Poem
Honoring Nyi Roro Kidul
Queen of the Southern Seas
He hides within the rock
of three dimensions
and cannot be found
in this world
When night comes
she rises like a moon
to shine her light
upon the mountain
The sea dances
rising and falling
like a lover
in her arms
What pull does she have
on his life
as she looks for a partner
to dance with
The moon bows
before the rising sun
and he is left
breathless
© Ken Chawkin
June 2000
Jakarta, Indonesia
Sitting with Sally: 5-haiku poem
April 11, 2011Sitting with Sally
(5-haiku poem)
Sitting with Sally
After moments of madness
Then freedom from fear
Sitting quietly
Our hearts and minds are settled
The soul is nourished
Stillness saturates
Every tissue with comfort
Our world is at peace
It feels like being
In a deep meditation
Too silent to speak
Fulfilling moments
Just resting here together
And we are thankful
© Ken Chawkin
April 9-13+16+18, 2011
Fairfield, Iowa
Also see An Unwanted Guest and Two Love Tanka.
I wrote an earlier poem, Rage Against the Disease, but never posted it.
Haiku for Fred
April 2, 2011
On seeing needlepoint in a picture frame on Fred’s desk,
made by Dariana when she was 7 or 8 years old, I wrote this
Haiku for Fred
I’m riding the waves
across the EEG page
and they spell out ‘Dad’
Ken Chawkin
March 29, 2011
Fairfield, Iowa
Dr. Fred Travis is Director of the Center for Brain, Consciousness and Cognition at Maharishi University of Management, in Fairfield, Iowa, USA.
Spring Haiku 2011
March 25, 2011I wrote this haiku on Monday, March 21, the first full day of spring, following the spring equinox on Sunday, March 20, 2011.
Spring Haiku 2011
It’s amazing how
The willow tree starts budding
The first day of spring!
© Ken Chawkin
Fairfield, Iowa
Storytelling—a poem on the storytelling process
February 27, 2011Storytelling
Telling a story is speaking out anew
what you always knew you knew
but didn’t know you knew it
until you heard yourself saying it
and in the telling of it, you,
the teller, become the listener too.
The teller and the listener
together both discover
the process of finding out
what the story is all about
as one draws the story out of the other
and the story tells itself from cover to cover.
© Ken Chawkin
The Uncarved Blog 