Haibun and Watercolor

I’m back!  From both my long, geeky weekend at PAX, and back from the mandatory overtime that has plagued me (but blessed my bank account) for the last couple of weeks.

And I have not returned empty handed, either!  I’ve written a couple of poems for the Writer’s Digest Poetic Form Challenge: Haibun Poem (not to be confused with a lowbun…)

Therein described, a Haibun is a hybrid of prose and haiku, and while I’m not entirely convinced I have the gist of it down pat, I did give a couple of tries that I will share (and one I will not share yet, but may come out at a later date when I feel it’s more… fit for public consumption).

Widow’s Walk

The crack of the hull carried even above the howl of the wind; the sea’s teeth tearing plank from plank as against the rocks the ship was lost. From the shore rose a wail, women who would ne’er again see husband or son drawn down into the bosom of the water.

There beneath the waves
Where the water babies play
Dance the six blue men

 

Daily News

The news isn’t the same in a war zone. Casualties list like weather reports, facts without emotion; any day you don’t know the names is a good one. Not every pop and boom is worthy of the front page, only the unusual or extreme are bothered with. Even then, news spreads throughout the city by the time the print is run, a record of the past rather than a herald of the present. Or sometimes, one of the literate will buy a paper and read it aloud to his neighbors over hand-rolled cigarettes and black market liquor to cut the cold and dull the nerves.

Children were playing
When an IED went off
Report seven dead

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The first has an illustration in my head that I may or may not succeed in capturing on paper, given my rudimentary art skills.  However, I do have art from the weekend that I’m rather fond of, and if nothing else practice makes better, right?  It’s fun to play with watercolor.

Three Ladies by Eliza Murdock

Mother Earth by Eliza Murdock

Flower by Eliza Murdock

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