Monday, February 15, 2010

Twitter

In January 2009 a friend suggested I join Twitter. At the time I was into Facebook and didn't really know much about Twitter, but I figured I'd give it a try. I signed up and started following some news and entertainment accounts. It took about six weeks for me to really "get" Twitter and understand that you need to be interactive with others and follow people in order to get the full Twitter experience.

A few great things have happened since I joined Twitter. First, I have been able to meet and become friends with some fabulous people. There is a great group of women I have the pleasure of knowing. We laugh with each other - and sometimes at each other! We feel their pain when a loved one is sick or dies. We cheer for their child's accomplishments. We have shared personal stories. We are truly friends. We live in New York, Canada, Washington, DC, Indiana, Pennsylvania, Great Britain, Texas, New Jersey, Oregon, but the distance does not matter, because we all meet here on Twitter. Although, in a few months when a number of us meet in person, New York City may never be the same!

In October 2009 I stumble across another group of amazing people on Twitter, writers of haiku, senryu and poetry, and I now consider them another group of friends, scattered throughout the world. An interesting facet of Twitter is that you can become friends with people you've never seen and don't even know their name. To me it actually doesn't matter because you get a sense of who they are by their tweets.

After following these great poets for a bit, I decided to jump into the pool, so to speak, and started tweeting my own haiku and senryu. It has become an important creative and cathartic outlet for me, at what has been a difficult time in my life.

Trying to explain Twitter to someone who has never used it can be difficult. It's a bit like narrowing down six degrees of separation by at least half. It's a way to meet people from all over this planet that we might otherwise never get the opportunity to meet. It can be a creative outlet. It can be a way to meet people who will be friends for life. For me Twitter is all of that and more.

Wednesday, February 3, 2010

February 2010 Haiku/Senryu/Poetry

February 1:
Once adorned with his ~ love, she has been stripped naked, ~ love taken away.
(haiku challenge 'adorn')

February 4:
Took up residence ~ in her heart, until the pain ~ was too strong to take
(haiku challenge 'residence')

February 8:
When there is nothing ~ left to say does everything ~ before still exist?

The well seems to be dry.
(six words)

February 9:
Broken heart requires ~ time to heal and in the end ~ emerges stronger
(haiku challenge 'require')

There is a place I ~ go in my dreams, hoping to ~ find you there one day

February 10:
Red flash ~ cardinal hides ~ within tangled vines

Animal tracks ~ in fresh snow ~ nature's art

February 11:
Sudden shiver up ~ spine makes me wonder are you ~ thinking of me too?

Shall carry you in ~ my heart forever although ~ no more serenade
(haiku word game: forever/serenade/carry
)

February 16:
Do not look elsewhere ~ when all the strength you need is ~ right inside of you.
(haiku challenge
'elsewhere'
)

February 24:
Snow on birdhouse ~ favorite ~ backyard scene

February 26:
Squirrels jumping ~ from branch to branch ~ nature's acrobats

Wind rushing through pines ~ and thoughts of you conspire ~ to keep me awake

Never expected ~ these life turns but she is still ~ hopeful nonetheless
(senryu party 'never'
)

Love the mountains and ~ lakes, but miss the smell, sound of ~ the Atlantic coast
(senryu party 'coast')


Heart shatters ~ like glass ~ if not careful
(senryu party 'glass')


February 27:
Soft sweet ~ slips through silk ~ so succulent

Freckles splashed across ~ cheeks of the most beautiful ~ face I've ever seen. (for Cameron)

Fold, flow ~ feel ~ fill, free

Flower bulbs ~ sleeping under the soil ~ waiting for Spring