Tag Archives: Haibun

July 15, 2017

Fête -Friday’s Word of the Day

By Kat Myrman


I know it’s Saturday. It took sleeping on Friday’s Word of the Day to come up with a Haiku considering the bitter irony of its timing.

Fête is defined at dictionary.com as:
In noun form: a festive celebration or entertainment; a day of celebration; holiday; a religious feast or festival; a fete lasting several days in honor of a saint; and as a verb: to entertain at or honor with a fete: to fete a visiting celebrity.

It came to us from the French, according to The Online Etymology Dictionary, in 1754, from French fête “festival, feast,” from Old French feste “feast, celebration” (see feast (n.)). If the date is right, first used in English by Horace Walpole (1717-1797). fete (v.) 1819, from fete (n.). Related: Feted; fetes; feting.

So the timing of the word makes perfect sense! France? Bastille Day? Ah hah! I get it! Of course!

Except…on Thursday, in my world, I was graveside at the funeral of the beloved husband of a friend and Friday? Well, Friday found me at the veterinary office saying goodbye to my 17 and a half year old rescue dog, Lucy.

So you can imagine I was in no mood for fetes of any kind on Friday, or so I thought at first glance. But then I began to embrace the word and found comfort in it.


I thought about the happy reunions that happened in clusters at the graveside on Thursday as family members and friends, separated by distance and time, embraced. And there were sermons and songs that promised the joy to be found by the departed in the beyond; a Fete of heavenly proportions and happy reunions with those who had passed before and would be waiting to greet him. Whether one is a believer in heaven or not, the comfort it gives those who do believe is lovely to witness.


Then on Friday, I considered how the joyous memories of happier, healthier times held me as I helped my little dog take her final trip “across the rainbow”, as they say, in peace and dignity. A life well lived is much to be feted! And Lucy was a diva and a queen while she lived. I smile to think of her, a 10 pound shitzu bossing around her 180 pound mastiff brother! She was a force! Her life was a fête!

So, this is your Haiku, a day late, for Friday’s Word of the Day. Maybe not what you were expecting, given it’s definition, but every bit as relevant to me given the circumstances of my real life week, kissed by irony.

mourners imagine
joyous fêtes beyond the veil
welcome us in death

~kat

4 Comments   |  tags: , , , , , , , , , , | posted in Digital Art & Photos, Essays, Haibun, Haiku, Life Lessons, Poetry, Random Thoughts and Musings, Spirituality, Word of the Day Haiku

July 12, 2017

Arting and Humming  

By Kat Myrman

My twins, coloring. ~kat

Mostly, I remember the smells…of linseed oil and turpentine, earthen clay and play dough. I can lose myself inside the lid of a fresh box of crayons. If I close my eyes I can imagine the sensation of finger paint, creamy cool between my fingers, and the sublime feeling of peeling elmer’s glue “skin” embossed with lines and creases from the palms of my hands. My introduction to art was a sensual, tactile experience.

Nowadays, I hum when I make art. I’m not sure why. It is not usually a recognizable tune; more like a droning purr of random notes. I suspect it is my left brain overflowing; bits of my soul released to be splashed onto a canvas, sculpted in clay, or scribbled on a page. I’ve been accused of being a bit crazy because of the humming. Or maybe it just drives others crazy because they can’t hear the music. All I do know, or am, at the very least, most certain of, is that art and music make me happy and touches the core of my being in ways that I can’t describe. So I hum and I art.

art by numbers
left-brain daubs inside the lines
magnum opus dreams
right-brain wild synapses
purr in rhapsody, the muse

~kat

For Colleen’s Taibun/Tanka Tuesday, prompt words Art and Music (Rhapsody).

12 Comments   |  tags: , , , , | posted in Challenges and Writing Prompts, Digital Art & Photos, Essays, Haibun, Poetry, Random Thoughts and Musings, Tanka

July 7, 2017

Phenology – Friday’s Word of the Day Haibun

By Kat Myrman


Happy Friday. Today’s dictionary.com Word is Phenology. According to dictionary.com, “Phenology entered English in the 1880s as acontracted variant of phenomenology, with restrictionto climatic phenomena.” It is defined as “the science dealing with the influence of climate onthe recurrence of such annual phenomena of animaland plant life as budding and bird migrations.”

After a further bit of research I learned that the study of phenology goes back thousands of years and is in fact one of the oldest sciences dealing with the natural world. According to the website, Windows to the Universe, “The Chinese are credited with the first written phenological records dating back to around 974 B.C. For the past 1200 years, observations of the timing of peak cherry blossoms in Japan have been recorded.”

I also learned that there are a number of proverbs and sayings that refer to phenology. Here are a few that I found:

“If oak’s before ash, you’re in for a splash. If ash before oak, you’re in for a soak”.

And another version along this line…

“If the oak is out before the ash, ‘Twill be a summer of wet and splash; If the ash is out before the oak,’Twill be a summer of fire and smoke.”

“In like a lion, out like a lamb”

“Christmas in clover, Easter in snow”…

“Spring is sooner recognized by plants than by men.”

Windows to the Universe explains: “Phenological observations have been used for centuries to maximize crop production, prepare for seasonal allergies, and anticipate optimal wildflower viewing conditions. Today, this well established science is used to track the effect of global warming and climate change on organisms and to make predictions about the future health of the environment.”

Did you know that scientists have tracked and discovered that the beginning of spring starts a week earlier in Europe in recent years? I didn’t. It’s called “season creep” and it is the sort of things that Phonologists study. 

Phenology is obviously an important science…for those of us who believe in science. 😉 Some cool new scientific terms I learned in my research include “green up” and “brown down”, having to do with infrared wavelengths from the sun. Can you guess which phenophase is being described by those words? Tick tock tick… Spring and Fall of course. Clever! Tracking green ups helps to identify species of plants that contribute most to the “infrared reflectance values”; a process is called “ground-truthing”. Another cool term!

There is so much more to learn about phenology. Do rev your google engines and learn more if you are a nature lover…or just curious. Or peruse an Old Farmer’s Almanac for that matter. I, on the other hand have a Haiku to write! Have a great weekend!

What force spurs seasons
to greening flush and browning?
Phenologists know!

~kat

5 Comments   |  tags: , , , , , , , | posted in Essays, Haibun, Haiku, nature, Poetry, Random Thoughts and Musings, Word of the Day Haiku

June 30, 2017

Divagate – Friday’s Word of the Day Haiku

By Kat Myrman


It’s Friday and time to learn a new word and use it in a Haiku. Though I must admit that the 5/7/5 verses that I come up with are not “true” haiku. By definition, a Haiku is “a Japanese poem of seventeen syllables, in three lines of five, seven, and five, traditionally evoking images of the natural world.”

There have been a few words of the day that had something to do with nature. Although I do strive to maintain the form and the “in the moment” impression and “ah-ha” revelation aspect in each Haiku I write. And I might add that I am not Japanese. At least that’s what my DNA tells me….

This piece, though, and my other Friday forays might better be defined as a “Haibun”. Defined as “haikai writings, a prosimetric literary form originating in Japan, combining prose and haiku. The range of haibun is broad and frequently includes autobiography, diary, essay, prose poem, short story and travel journal.” (from Wikipedia)

Ah, but, I divagate, pronounced dahy-vuh-geyt not ‘dee-vuh-geyt’ as you might be tempted to say it, today’s word of the day at Dictionary.com. Although the word “diva” is hard to miss in the first part of this word, its etymology will clarify everything for you. First used late 16th century: from Latin divagat- ‘wandered around,’ from the verb divagari, from di- ‘widely’ + vagari ‘wander.’ (from google under ‘divagate etymology’)

So you see, divagate is not ‘diva+gate’ (sounds like a beauty pageant fiasco, doesn’t it?! 😉), but rather it is ‘di-vagate’ which accounts for its unique pronunciation.

And finally, what does all this mean? I’m glad you asked! According to dictionary.com Divagate means “to wander; stray, or to digress in speech.”

Does the fact that someone is prone to divagate make them a diva? Perhaps. If only to illustrate that said divagator likes to hear themselves talk while demanding that everyone around them listen with rapt attention to their gibberish!

But alas, there I go divagating again. I have been accused of this before, not because I am a diva mind you. Blame it on a short attention span and my tendency to become easily distracted. 😜

And if you have read this far, the very least I can do is reward you with a Haiku or two, the part two of this haibun, which I learned is also Japanese…which I am not…😊

Have a great weekend…and for my US friends, enjoy your Independence…4th of July Celebration Day…emphasis on “independence” while it lasts!!! 😳

one hundred forty
divagating tweeted blips,
known also, as spin

follow if you can
divagators who drivel
look! a butterfly!
~kat

6 Comments   |  tags: , , , , , , | posted in Essays, Haibun, Haiku, Poetry, Random Thoughts and Musings, Word of the Day Haiku