Pond frog chorus sings
Spring, she is awakening
Blooms paint the meadow

Valentine Haiku ~MRA, 2/14/25

Flight—fan of feathers
Crane—love leaping, wild dancing
Red flash—hearts beating.

Oldie.

Wisdom of the Wild Wood
By Monica R. Ashbaugh 2/9/22

We’ve forgotten how to listen
to the words of the forest
Wise whispers of wind through the trees
Old cedar wisdom
We neglect the prophesy of pines
And divination of doves
We are blind to the books
innate in living oak…

Candlemas gray o’ bright
Cranes begin their homeward flight
Sprouts rise toward the light

~M.R. Ashbaugh

The old brown dog sleeps
Quiet snores, musical peace
Loyal canine friend

Rain
~Monica R. Ashbaugh, 1/30/25

Gray morning
Quiet monotony
Of raindrops
Stillness and motion
Sound and silence
Lulls one asleep
Gentle dreams
Eases the soul

Wednesday Haiku
~MRA

Tap tap tippy tap
Woodpecker thrums his drum tune
Ancient rhythmic rune

Brevity
By Monica R. Ashbaugh, 1/27/25

Ephemeral wildflowers
Butterfly existence
Autumn leaf
Sunshine snowflake
Nest eggs
Dawn dew
Sunset hues
Wistful sigh
Final breath
One lifetime
—amongst stars.

My BlueSky Poetry Project. Because of the limited character count, I’m going to challenge myself to write a short poem every day that conforms to the count or take one of my poems and edit it down to the count. I’m going to give it a try for 2025. 📝

The Full Measure
By Monica R. Ashbaugh, 1/23/14

Some measure time with a clock in ticks;
I measure with a heart in beats.
Count a day into hours;
My day in blessings.
Hours into minutes;
Mine in miracles.
Rush through years to inevitability.
Pause.
Experience the exquisite patience of this breath.

Amen
by Monica R. Ashbaugh, 1/8/22

The sweet whistle
Of the white-throated sparrow
In the brown tangle
On this snowy day
Gives me breath
And prayer.