Sunday Haiku

A double dose today…

clouds fly past the moon
on the way to somewhere else
making fall leaves quake

—

recent rain water
lets grass pretend there’s still time
to put off autumn

The first release of these haiku happen on my Fediverse (Mastodon) account @algot@mastodon.art where a group of posts use the hashtag #SmallPoems. Sometimes those who work with poetry bounce their work back and forth to one another. This week, between the two haiku above, another person, @dogtrax, added a response to my first haiku of the day.

Trees, and broken leaves;
kindred spirits inside a
gentle heart, changing

That lead me to my second haiku of the day.

I want to thank those who follow this blog for their kindness in doing so.

Please consider joining a fediverse community (there are many). Mastodon.art is more than just for those practicing the visual arts. Writing.exchange is also a potential good fit. You “could” join Mastodon.social, but that defeats the “federated” purpose of spreading people around to smaller, independent servers. Independent community servers allow those who can do so to directly support the administrators and moderation team of their chosen community. It is important to recognize that moderation by humans is one of the features of the fediverse. Abusive language and bad behavior are not tolerated. Repeated bad behavior is swiftly addressed. Offenders’ accounts may be canceled. As a result, it is possible to have a comfortable online experience.

In case you do not feel that you know enough to pre-select a server/community to join, head to https://joinmastodon.org/ where you’ll find solid information about finding your best place to start…and it is very easy to migrate later. The fediverse is a flexible social media experience. Take advantage of it.

If you decide to give it a try, please reach out and say hello.

Payoff

It is a shame
That we seek fame
As our main aim,
Or maybe just as often,
Avoiding all the blame.

Common-tarry (wait for it…)

[I do not refer to being covered with tar, though that is spelled the same way. To tarry is to wait/abide.]

This commentary (the pun’s reveal) is about why these posts happen.

My rhymes are made public here in addition to appearing as posts using Mastodon, a part of the federated tools of the “Fediverse”.

I am very grateful to all who stop by here. It is fun to get the recognition of a “like” from some people, too. It is nice to know that I’m not tooting out into a void.

The category which seems to catch the eye of others is “poetry”. Now, lets be clear about it, I don’t really feel poetic when I compose these rhymes. They are part of my brain’s pattern of playing with language as sound.

As noted above, my wordplay also involves puns. That combination of rhyme an pun may not be poetry, but it’s the category which seems to fit.

Recognition is great. Thanks to all of you.

Fame need not happen.

Saturday

Honor agriculture, Saturn’s day.
Fertile Frey had no chance to play.
Grabby language that it is
Incorporated some Roman biz.

(It is only recently that the fediverse has asked us to reconsider, putting forward #Caturday as the most appropriate alternative. How much it catches on is still to be determined.)

Tech Support

Servers in the background,
Humming electronic things
We out in the user world
Don’t notice their powerful wings.

Until the site we’re using
Crashes, goes offline, goodbye
That is, then, the exact moment
When we all begin to cry.

When the RAID drive dies
The bases of our data
Cannot be read out
Stilled wings, Tears brings.

Quick techs, things back to specs
Backups soon restored
Way too much stress for admins
But another tech win scored!

Late yesterday, Mastodon.art, my social media “home”, went offline. It turned out to be a RAID drive failure in the data center, one under contract to masto.host, the service provider behind the scenes for the mastodon.art community. After a stressful tech/admin period of time, the faulty drive was replaced, databases restored.

There are thousands of anonymous tech support people at work in the Internet’s data centers. I will never know any of you personally, I suspect. Nonetheless, I rely on you to do your tech wizardry on my behalf. Thank you.

Time and Distance

Social media posts
In the fediverse
Occur “right now”
In my timeline stream
But now isn’t what it seems.

My morning
Your afternoon
Another’s night.
Can my today can be
Someone’s tomorrow?

One hemisphere’s summer
Is deep winter in the other.
Hear me, sister/brother
My language may not
Even match yours.

Stretch that beyond
Our blue, spinning globe
Across the gap of space
Is anyone there
To share these timely thoughts?

Tentative Toes

Tentative toes,
Beware of those.
“They might get clipped.”
“They might get snipped.”

Restrained inside,
Boundaries untried,
Perhaps it’s fear.
“We want you here!”

But sooner or later
The urge will be greater
Than the fear and doubt,
And then your out!

Inspired by @Teryl_Pacieco@mastodon.social

Streams

Afloat upon a gentle stream,
We travel slowly, as if in dream.
But when the water turns too rough
To float along is not enough.

We must choose right now to fight,
To keep ourselves intact, upright,
To swim and kick and strive
To stay, heads up, alive.

Or perhaps, choose self-slaughter
Succumb to the crashing white water.
And float again instead
Because, too bad, we’re dead.

(Inspired by https://mstdn.io/@EdwardTorvalds )

Saturday, Oh Caturday

Let’s go outside so we can play.
Or watch the birds through the window, hey?
Then after a yawn and a real good scratch,
We can take a nap in a sunny patch.

obligatory

Pronunciation /əˈblɪɡət(ə)ri/
adjective
1 Required by a legal, moral, or other rule; compulsory.
1.1 (of a ruling) having binding force.
1.2 humorous So customary or fashionable as to be expected of everyone or on every occasion.

Origin
Late Middle English from late Latin obligatorius, from Latin obligat- ‘obliged’, from the verb obligare (see oblige).

Art Appreciation

On your time I must encroach,
But I’m not sure of the approach
Which I should choose to take
Because of what’s at stake.

In the muck I’ll wallow
Though it’s tough to swallow.
I am just out for attention,
Though it is with apprehension.

You may choose to ignore.
It’s your right for sure.
But I hope you may appreciate.
What the artists here create!

https://mastodon.art/