I can

Many times I climbed
right up that “do not climb” hill.
Don’t tell me I can’t.

~ smj

My “do not climb” hill.
Ok.. I don’t actually own the hill..
~ smj

Every Now & Then

It’s not that big
of a deal, of a mountain,
of a challenge, 
for most people,
or even for me.
Now.

firefly nights

fireflies escaping
like sparks flying off the fire
joining stars and you

                       – smj, 5/18/2019

—————

Just a little haiku I wrote for my cousin.  I was thinking of childhood memories of parties at their old house… and, of chasing fireflies.  We would run through the fields at their house in the night… trying not to trip over the dark while following the sporadic flashes.  If we were lucky, we’d manage to catch a few fireflies, and when we did, we would put them in a mason jar with some holes in the lid.  We thought we could use them as a lantern.

We would keep them for a bit, but I never wanted to keep them long.  I was afraid they would die (thanks Dad).  So I’d let them go… sometimes unbeknownst to my cousins while they were busy desperately trying to catch more.  Besides, the flies just were not nearly as beautiful or impressive up-close.  They just looked like…. well… flies (with big glowy butts).   But, with a little added distance?  Oh my. They became magical… mystical…  lighting up in the dark sky if only for a second… here… then there…. then, wait… where?

I still see them in my backyard sometimes.  I don’t try to catch them anymore. My boys are also too old now for that.  I don’t think they were ever as impressed by them as I was anyway.  Am.  I still am.  I still like to watch them flicker on and off, until they are too far away to see and I lose track of them.  They remind me of  the sparks flying off a bonfire… billowing with the smoke up to the stars.  I like to try to follow those as well… watch as they rise up to the heavens…  until they fade into grey ashes that join us once again.  Or until they just mysteriously disappear all together.  Possibly morphing into yet another distant star against the black sky.  Who’s to say?

 

Morning Moon

morning moon clings tight
to last signs of night over
black tree silhouettes
~ smj

I took this pic the other morning…  while walking my dog in the wee hours of the morning.   Something I need to start doing more of again…  now that I can… and while I can…
I love it when the moon is still out during the day. On this morning, there were actually stars still out too.  But, it was quite cloudy, and my camera is not the best so it did not capture the stars.  Actually, try as I might, I can never really even remotely capture the beauty I see when I look up at the sky.  Still… I find myself looking up, and trying, time and time again.  A bad habit of mine that I hope I never give up.

~ smj

March Skies…

Some random shots I took the other day. I went for a drive along the lake and was compelled to stop and take a few pics.   It’s such typical spring weather for March here (Upstate NY), where you can have four seasons in a day…

 

I also added these to my “Same Sky… Different Day” photo album on my Facebook page… where I have many random sky photos “because I have a hard time not looking up… ”

~ smj