highlights in refuge
as autumn drapes her fancy
in succulent hues
refuge : a haiku
Category: Haiku
skip: a haiku
read me a story
only skip to the last page
where it all began
Doors are a subject I love taking pictures of not only in appreciation of their architecture, but for the dreamer in me that can’t help but imagine up worlds lingering behind every one I stumble upon. What is beyond that half open door beseeching me a closer look? The beginning of a most fantastical journey. Happily ever afters just waiting for our steps…
Below are images I’ve captured of various doors over the years. They range from a small church yard in Morristown, New Jersey to the historic streets of Old Jaffa in Israel. No matter the location, doors have always been a muse to my imagination.
blossom: a haiku
in blushing blossom
beneath a mandarin sky
fusion becomes her
salt: a haiku
trimming the distance
salt water blankets bare thoughts
waves caress slowly
I captured this image along the shore of Hatteras Island in the Outer Banks of North Carolina as a storm was approaching.
Bird watching along the shore line is enjoyable to me, in watching their flight, their determined (and sureness) in finding a meal and then those moments, such as I captured here, that their stature looks as if they are finding the shoreline a moment of reflection. Finding that brief moment in their day to simply slow their pace.
wild: a haiku
in the wild of me
special thoughts rain blissfully
forest grows louder
I captured this image while in one of the bayou’s outside of New Orleans in Louisiana. I love the look (and feel) of Spanish moss and how it seemingly rains throughout the branches of trees. A moment after I captured this image, I found myself beneath this tree, letting the moss trail across my face and couldn’t help but feel as if I was being greeted by its soul. if only we but listen….
mischief: a haiku
candlelit mischief
flaxen hush blossoms in waltz
waxing flames entwined
The music that accompanies this piece is that of my talented friend and composer, Isotherme, from his album Cinquieme. His musical experiments are that of a meditative journey in ambiance and sound. For more of his music you can visit his collection of albums here.
ivory: a haiku
frail is the hunger
morning rain caresses flesh
thunder breathes ivory
Captured this image during a hike in the fall and with no pun intended is memorable for me as I fell getting to it along the slippery rocks. The laughter commenced as thankfully I didn’t get hurt and a rest along the mossy stones was appreciated. Waterfalls are among the many wonders of nature that carry me to a different place and are a favorite of my camera to attempt to capture where the magic seems to flow in slow motion.
rapture: a haiku
the blackbird’s rapture
in the slick draw of midnight
a stance of freedom
I took this image while sitting on my deck in the backyard. I love to travel and adventure to new places especially with my camera in tow but more often than not, I become inspired by the views my own backyard offers from the ever changing blooms and sway of the trees to the visits I receive from the wanders of nature (minus the spiders, I’m sorry) such as this crow that found a moment in the shade before venturing about his day.
This song, that I just recently discovered, found me on the drive home from a challenging day of work and carried me to this image. A calm overcomes me every time I watch a bird in flight or perched upon the branch of a tree. How free they seem to be. How much wiser they are than thee.
squeeze: a haiku
squeeze of sun-kissed lips
ripened dreams waiting to flow
tender drifts at sea
virtue: a haiku
silence, a virtue
wading through canopies wild
dresses me at dawn
I captured this image within the gardens of Elizabethan Gardens on Roanoke Island in North Carolina. The statue, one created by artist Maria Louisa Lander, is that of Virginia Dare, the first English child born in the New World. Her rendition is that of her imaginative design of what little Virginia would have looked liked as a woman. For those of you unfamiliar of the mysterious story of Virginia and the Lost Colony, read more here.
What I didn’t know, until recently, is the extraordinary history of all this piece endured before finding its final resting place within the gardens. The artist created this piece in Rome over a fourteen month period and upon its completion in 1859, it was placed aboard a ship and in 1860 began its journey to the United States. The ship, however, sank off the coast of Spain where the statue remained at the bottom of the sea for two years until Lander paid to recover it.
Once recovered, the buyer of the statue died from a fire in his home but thankfully the statue was recovered and found its way back to Ms. Lander’s possession where it remained until her death in 1923, leaving it to the state of North Carolina.
It then sat in a public building in Raleigh where it soon received complaints because of its nudity and ultimately was placed in a basement then later to a state auditor’s office. It was here that the piece repeatedly suffered vandalism by way of mockers applying lipstick to her.
Her journey wasn’t finished yet though. In 1938 she was crated up and sent to the director of what is now the famous play “The Lost Colony” on Roanoke Island where she survived a flooding and then later was moved to his home in Chapel Hill where she remained crated until the 1950’s when upon his death it was donated to what is now her home, The Elizabethan Gardens.
One hundred years after her creation and harrowing journey, she is a beautiful addition to the Gardens surrounded by live oaks and flowers that beckons you to sit a spell and take in the history and the beauty that Roanoke Island and the Elizabethan Gardens offers.
