metaphorically speaking

Lessons from Juxtapositioning

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Joyful sunflowers
stand proud, basking in sun’s warmth.
Their earth mother cares.

Hungry children cry
parents struggle to feed them.
Government ignores their plight.
Cold shoulders favor the rich.

See the gardener sow,
caring for the soil. It blooms
flowers of all kinds.


Written as we’re sailing the seas on consecutive Celebrity cruises, meeting people from across the globe. So many ask us, what is happening in the US? We just can’t understand it. Why is this being allowed to happen? What are we to say? The above refers to SNAP, Planned Parenthood, Medicare, the Affordable Care Act, Project Head Start — all programs being cut by the current US administration. The metaphorical allusion, I hope is clear.

These are a haiku (5 line poem of the following syllabic count: 5-7-5; followed by a tanka (7 line poem of the following syllabic count: 5-7-5-7-7) and concluding with a haiku.

Sailing on a Tanka

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Agitated wake
churns up, roils ocean’s surface.
Then stretches into
gently glistened smaller waves,
like life’s long past memories.


Photo taken from aboard Celebrity’s Silhouette.

The Tanka form, when a Haiku just won’t do.

The haiku has 3 lines of the following syllabic content: 5 – 7 – 5
The tanka has 5 lines of the following syllabic content: 5 – 7 -5-7-7

Metaphor Me

lillian11 Comments

Dandelion me.
Youthful glee in splashy yellow dresses.
All sunshine and skipping through fields!
But old age they say can be grizzly.
Those cubs, born hairless and toothless.
Grizzly cubs but not grizzly at first.
No pacifiers. Mother’s nuzzling enough.
Then playful to rambling to belly fat acquired
and hibernation needed. I always liked naps.
Or acorn me. Digging into soil, finding my own way.
Gangly seedling teenage years with
autumnal outbreaks. Cacophony of colorful
fashion fad flairs. To sentinel oak standing
with quiet grace. Am I there yet?
I still feel dandy and fierce. Dandy lioness am I.
Elderly dandelions’ delicate translucent skin
fades slowly until a passing by small child delights
in one puff from chubby cheeks. Giggles as seeds
soar on spring’s born-again breezes.
Dandelionalicious me with walks, hand in hand.
Stops along the way to collect bouquets of flowers
and skip rocks across the pond. With many smiles.
All the while acknowledging life’s delights.

NAPOWRIMO Day 25. Prompt: Write your own poem in which you use at least three metaphors for a single thing, include an exclamation, ruminate on the definition of a word, and come back in the closing line(s) to the image or idea with which you opened the poem.

DEDICATED to my dear friend, Lindsey. Wishing her well.

Metaphors used: comparing my life (anyone’s life) to a dandelion, a grizzly bear, and an acorn growing into an oak tree. Within the grizzly bear section, I ruminate on the meaning of old age. Had fun with this one once I decided how to approach it!

Photo taken many many years ago. And yes, it’s a dandelion in its old age!