The promise of Spring .....

I just thought I would post one of my favourite German poems on Spring and the hope it inspires:

Frühlingsglaube

Die linden Lüfte sind erwacht,
Sie säuseln und wehen Tag und Nacht,
Sie schaffen an allen Enden.
O frischer Duft, o neuer Klang!
Nun, armes Herze, sei nicht bang!
Nun muss sich alles, alles wenden.

Die Welt wird schönermit jedem Tag,
Man weiß nicht, was noch werden mag,
Das Blühen will nicht enden.
Es blüht das fernste, tiefste Tal:
Nun, armes Herz, vergiss der Qual!
Nun muss sich alles, alles wenden.

-- von Ludwig Uhland


Here's the English translation by Hyde Flippo:

The gentle winds are awakened,
They murmur and waft
day and night,
They create in every corner.
Oh fresh scent, oh new sound!
Now, poor dear [heart], fear not!
Now everything, everything must change.

The world becomes more beautiful
with each day,
One does not know
what may yet happen,
The blooming doesn't want to end.
The farthest, deepest valley blooms:
Now, poor dear, forget the pain!
Now everything, everything must change.

lingering cold:
she paints the flame
a brighter yellow !

the answering machine
yet again:
... lingering cold

for the Shiki Monthly Kukai Feb 2012

blackout:
suddenly we see
a shooting star !

meteor shower:
I try to wish away
the clouds overhead

for the Shiki Monthly Kukai Feb 2012

Violets ...

Nothing heralds the coming of Spring as do flowers. Every tree sports a fresh green look adorned with buds and joy fills one's heart ...

Spring is coming, Thou art come !
-- Wordsworth in "To the Celandine"


"From her feet the ground sloped sharply into view, and violets ran down in rivulets and streams and cataracts, irrigating the hillside with blue, eddying round the tree stems, collecting into pools in the hollows, covering the grass with spots of azure foam. But never again were they in such profusion; this terrace was the well-head, the primal source whence beauty gushed out to water the earth."

-- E.M. Forster in "A room with a view"


cascades of violets
dot the countryside:
footsteps of Spring ...

for the "footsteps" Caribbean Kigo Kukai

Uncle Podger catches a flight ...

The name Uncle Podger makes me smile :)). I immediately visualize the man trying to hang up a picture in his living room with his wife and several children in attendance. I can see him impatiently waving about and demanding a dozen things simultaneously, keeping every person present totally busy. (If you didn't already realize, this is from "Three Men in a Boat" by Jerome K. Jerome). The next scene that comes to mind is Uncle Podger sprinting to catch the morning train to reach his workplace (see "Three Men on the Bummel" by the same author). I thought it would be fun to imagine how Uncle Podger might catch a flight in the 21st century.


"Never wait until the last minute" he would sermonize to all and sundry, but for himself nothing would get done if there were no deadlines ... Uncle Podger would never pack even the day before his travel -- it was simply more fun to do it just an hour or two before leaving home for the airport. On the day of his departure, he would leisurely savour his coffee over a bunch of newspapers as was his wont everyday. Immediately after this, the mad rush would begin. You could see the tension sparking in the air. "Can you boot up the computer and log into the airlines site so I can print out my online ticket ?" he would say. "Hurry up. There are so many things to do ..." The printer would decide to strike work that day or the cartridge would run out of ink. Finally, one of the children would be deputed to run to the nearest cybercafe to get a printout.

In the meantime, Uncle Podger would assign other duties to his spouse and progeny -- "Can you call a taxi to the airport ?" Aunt Maria's "I thought I told you to book it last night" would be totally drowned out in the loud instructions that Uncle Podger would shout out to the child booking the taxi -- "tell him I need to catch a flight at 2 pm" "Did you tell him the right address?" and so on and so forth.

Uncle Podger would be bustling about everywhere without actually focussing on a single item to be done. "Maria, did you get my shirts ironed ? No, not those -- I need the other ones that aren't here. What about my medicines ? Can you order those -- right away -- and ask the guy to show up in the next 15 minutes or so ? Do you happen to have a lock ?" On being given one, he would come up with "No, that is too small, or that seems too large -- didn't you have a number lock?"

When finally, his bags were packed and the taxi driver called to say that he had arrived,
he would start to have his lunch and then unhurriedly comment about the lack of seasoning or if the vegetables were overcooked or undercooked. The whole family would heave a collective sigh of relief when he finally got into the taxi to take him to the airport. They knew they had to enjoy what little peace they would know -- until he got back !


Image from cartoon-photocollection.blogspot.in

Falling leaves and reveries .....

flurry of green and gold:
a kitten gambols
in a heap of autumn leaves

autumn contemplation...
a butterfly's shadow
brushes past mine

newly single:
she watches autumn leaves
drift apart ...

autumn lamplight:
she looks for solace
in the warm flame

long night—
the whirring of the fan
cuts into my thoughts

for Sketchbook Haiku Sep/Oct 2011 issue

Image from gardening.sheknows.com

God's gift to the vegetable vendor: The male shopper

Having been brought up in a family of girls, my knowledge of the male shopping habits is limited to the study of a few selected Y-chromosome-card holders -- mainly the spouse, but also friends and their spouses and hearsay about someone-or-the-other’s acquaintance and so on. My father does not figure in this – he belonged to that generation where it was understood that grocery shopping and vegetable shopping were the forte of the woman of the house. For better or worse, my mother had to do that and I usually accompanied her on her daily trips to the vegetable market. In the present day and age, it isn’t openly admitted but boils down to the same thing – surprise, surprise -- it’s the wife who manages the portfolio of grocery and vegetable shopping.

After days of tenacious nagging (in his words) or reasoning (the female spouse’s point of view), the reluctant male agrees to go vegetable shopping if the wife would make a list of what she would like. Just to underline the point – He would not even want to get out a paper and pencil to write down the list. Well, once the list is made, there is a last-ditch effort to get the wife to come along – “we can drive down in the car” ( to the vegetable vendor who sells vegetables just outside the apartment complex where they live ) – when this priceless offer is turned down, he shuffles off listlessly, usually leaving the all-important list behind at home. If this happens, one can expect to see just tons of tomatoes, potatoes and onions when he returns – the only vegetables he can identify by sight !

The vegetable vendor prays vehemently that she might get at least one male shopper everyday. It is all she can do to stop herself from falling down on her knees and thanking God when one such vision appears near her cart. The most ideal characteristic of this paragon (from the vendor’s point of view) is that he won’t even enquire about the price per kilogram of anything. He just reels off his requirements from a list and asks for how much he needs to pay – choosing the vegetables is left to the vendor. The vendor can also easily dispose most of her cache of old and tired-looking vegetables that even the neighbourhood cow would not look at – the male shopper with his “I’m-in-such-a-rush-and-please-won’t-you-just-tell-me-how-much-to-pay-so-I-can-go” attitude almost invites this upon himself. Also, any suggestions from the vendor as to alterations in the quantities are accepted without hesitation – thus, a man might return home with a kilo’s worth of green chillies, while his wife would have considered a tenth of that too much !! It is also easy to hoodwink these child-like beings – at least 60% of male shoppers cannot distinguish between cauliflowers (usually expensive) and cabbages (generally cheap). Someone I know came back with a kilo of sapotas (a brown-skinned fruit) when he meant to buy potatoes ! The unfortunate man attempted to get out of this by blaming the poor light in the evenings. And the icing on the cake -- the male shopper does not stoop to bargaining ! No wonder the vendor enquires after the well-being of my husband with such loving concern ...


Sometimes I wonder whether this twice-a-year or at best, thrice-a-year phenomenon is stage managed ?! Frankly, if each time the male shopper comes back with lifeless vegetables while paying top prices, maybe the frequency of such requests to go vegetable shopping would drop ? Maybe the Y-chromosomers are smarter than most of their wives think .....


(Image from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vegetable)

sunbeams bounce off
blue-green bamboo:
mosaic of light and shadow

(for the Caribbean Kigo Kukai #29)

Image from wallpapers-diq.com