Category Archives: Rhymes/ Meter verse/ Free Verse/ haikus

March Poems, Rhymes, Haikus

Complementary 
high impact combination
nature's color scheme
March 2 book
Flip a page
Mark a page
Read again, a book in hand. 

March 3 soup
Slow down, take the time
make a pot of savory stew
share with a friend or two

Savory and warm
tomato soup with grilled cheese
diagional cut
Re-share of Facebook post/ Haiku by RL Brown
Haiku and picture by RL Brown
Moons of March

Sky looks down on earth
with the dark eye of a new moon,
spring winks at the stars. 

Seeds shed winter's shield
roots stretch in fertile dirt-
March howls for spring's warmth.

Loam stirs, breaking free-
muddling nightcrawlers rise
under the worm moon. 

Foretoken of spring
Marsh marigolds in damp fields
Hooverflies delight

Terrestrial tides collide 
rising high, but twice a year.
sun and moon poised.

A morrowless day
arriving on the equinox
perfectly balanced. 

Sugar Moon shines down-
sweet maples release sap
as March winds breathe change. 
March festivals
Frolic with the daffodils
Wye Mtn, Moss Mtn, AR
Zephyr carries spring seeds
Nightcrawlers dig underground moats
Loam provides their needs
#Haiku_Challenge March 16/Zephyr
Morning Glory
Photo by Tiu1ec3u Bu1ea3o Tru01b0u01a1ng on Pexels.com
fortoken of spring, 
howling winds, blue sky, green grass
March winds breathe change

three hundred year oak
stretches toward sun's warmth
new season to bloom 
#HaikuSaturday #Haiku_Chanllenge/zeith 
Photos by RL Brown/Moss Mtn, AR
March 17, 2023

2023 Kids’ Choice KidLit Writing Contest Prize

Nonfiction Narrative of a true navigator-Eleanor Creesy was the first navigator to sail a new supply route around Cape Horn and set a speed record that none could beat/ Excerpt from Navigating Stormy Seas/ (Sing to the Wellerman’s Tune)

In 1851, the clipper ship Flying Cloud raced from New York to San Francisco in just 89 days, 21 hours.

During the California Gold Rush, fortunes were made or lost in sleek clipper ships. The route often took more than a hundred days. But in 1851, the Flying Cloud carried $50,000 worth of cargo from New York to San Francisco around the tip of South America in record-breaking time under the command of Josiah Perkins Creesy Jr. and his wife and navigator Eleanor Creesy. Two years later, they broke their own record by 13 hours, a record that still stands.
The Daring Navigator of the Flying Cloud: The Eleanor Creesy Story by RL Brown

The Flying Cloud’s a clipper ship, 
with billowing sails of canvas white,
Filled to the brim, we catch the wind
weather foul or fair- huh

Heave ho and aweigh we go,
bring the sugar and hopes of gold.
Heave ho and away we go,
We’re bound for Californ-i-O.

Five hundred tons, she's weighted down,
yet the race is on to blaze a trail
The captain’s eye is bent t’ward speed
We sail with’a sailor's prayer. Huh

Heave ho and aweigh we go,
bring the coffee and pans for gold.
Heave ho and aweigh we go
We’re bound for Californ-i-O.

Two saboteurs tried to sink the ship
By drilling holes in the beams below
But the first mate heard a handy tip
And took those villains down.

Heave ho and aweigh we go,
We fight against both wind and men.
Heave ho and aweigh we go,
we’re bound for Californ-i-O.

The best navigator on the sea.
plotting a course that none could beat.
Eleanor Creesy set the pace,
long, long ago- huh.

Heave ho and aweigh we go,
sugar, coffee, and tools for gold.
Heave ho and aweigh we go,
we’re bound for Californ-i-O.



The Clipper Ship Flying Cloud
Josiah Perkins Creesy, Jr. commanded the ship, and, uncommon for the time, his wife Eleanor navigated. As a child in Massachusetts, she had learned navigation skills from her seafaring father.
Credit: The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley

January Poems

Photo by RL Brown, Gulf Port, MS
color of the sky
a change upon the wind
longing to be free
sky colors ripple
a unique aerial view
coming 
    down 
        down
            down
slow, slow, quick-quick, slow
light dances on the water
footprints in the sand
Photo by RL Brown, Gulf Port, MS
WIP
If rain no longer fell, would tears cease to flow?
If blue dropped from the sky, would a smile return?
If darkness engulfs the world, would light find its way?
If longing is understood, would yearning fade?
If sadness disappeared would you be free?

Your faith can be likened to a train with an engine and a caboose. Putting your energy/belief in God and His Word is like putting your energy/ fuel (the coal) into the train engine, and it moves forward. If you place your energy (the coal) into the caboose, your feelings, the train doesn't move. Feelings wobble, constantly change, hurl you forward or hold you back. Emotions should not take the lead; they can spiral you out of control if you weigh yourself with them. We have free will by which we balance head and heart and live. by RLBrown
shadows hide, lurking beneath (the fog)
Light invades, droplets dissipate, shadows revealed. 
living life in a fog, drifting desparately
a seasonal leaf
grounding roots
friends are the rings inside

January submission The Monthy Kakai-(Gratitude) by RL Brown
A  clarion call on gradient winds, eagles hitch a ride. (January sky) #poetry, #haiku, 
snow falling lightly
moonbeams prance
nestled deep, all sleep
Like a river, creativity flows, bends, hits a dam, spills over, finds another way, is a mist, and gets lost in a fog but is ever moving forward to new horizons. 
autumn falls silent under the evening snow
Photo by RL Brown
Photo by RL Brown, South Korea

December Poems

WIP 

The night star shines
through the night
illumatinating the way


a single voice announces,
the king's arrival,
dispelling fear

Christmas morning rings
as the morning light hums,
as a new song begins.

The Troubadour sings 
illuminating darkness,
dispelling fear.





Echoes of joy ring
The songless world yearns to hear.
The troubadour’s song.

Morning's light hums
through hate and despair as hope
sings a new redemptive song.
Nature’s beauty shines
from the eyes of the beholder
beware of black bears
Solstice 

sun rays scintallate 
into summer's inner boundary
nighttide catenates

summer solstice June 21, 2022

on a morrowless day
nighttide meets at winter's gate
light concatenates

#haiku #HaikuSaturday #haikuseed 

winter solstice
Dec 21, 2022
January sky
Its sheer so clear, so blue. 
Nothing leaves a mark.
 
Wintry sky
shear blue bright and clear
cirrus trails
Emotional world
Spinning round the sun leaving
Unanswered questions.
#HaikuSaturday by martha vandivier
@Vandiviergrade3
My Reply:

In between twilight
answers lie within us
for finding the Truth.
#HaikuSaturday by RL Brown

November 2022 Haikus and more

Snow in Arkansas
Ump, get real, it's Arkansas
Snowing in Arkansas
 #HaikuSaturday 
We have a saying in AR, if you don't like the weather, wait a day!
5:59 PM · Nov 12, 2022
·Twitter Web App
wispy sheers, whispering change, forth-telling

whiptail: journal of the single-line poem
@whiptailjournal

Cirrus clouds are thin, feathery, and wispy. They often portend rain in the coming days. Write a monoku using cirrus clouds.
#haiku #monoku #whiptailjournal https://pic.twitter.com/3SXZEo5mMA

Replying to @whiptailjournal
whiptail: journal of the single-line poem
@whiptailjournal

speckled sunlight of pattern pathways 

Share a monoku you wrote and the story behind it.
The story behind this: I was reading Richard Peck this summer, inspired by his writing. 
for whiptail journal
Monday is about: Magic of Invisible friends

Nov 21
Replying to 
@jerroldconnors
I never had an invisible childhood friend, but that would be my favorite.
I wouldn't care for gremlins since they work for Murphy's Law.

Nov 22 Friendship 
Replying to 
@JThomasABC
Like a leaf that is brief-lasting a season,
branches that hang around for a while,
or the roots that keep you grounded, 
friends are the rings inside you. #InvisibleThings

Nov 23 Creativity
Like a river, creativity flows, bends, hits a dam, spills over, finds another way, is a mist, and gets lost in a fog but is ever moving forward to new horizons. 
@lozzawriting
 
Invisible Things/Creativity 


Nov 24: Joy
Grandbabies create
a rite of passage for
parents to become 
Grand! 
@AndrewsSusanM

Passing the responsibility of raising a child to your child and watching them guide, struggle, seek your help and advice, and getting to love and trust them to do their best is pure joy.


Nove 25
Hope hurts! 
Hurtful words dash across the heart. Dreams unrealized lie in waste. Lost in the darkness, we cry.
Hope lies beyond our regrets and missed opportunities. Hope restores the heart and clears the way for renewed dreams. 
Hope heals!
#InvisibleThings  
@jerroldconnors
5:30 PM · Nov 25, 2022



Trouvaille Review, February 15, 2022 Publication
excerpt: 
Winter winds whistling
Indian Summer's last stance
Bowing gracefully
 
Winter’s dignity
Lifeless trees' quiet strength
Autumn seeds nestled deep-

Sheltered.  #haikusaturday 

Originally written separately, then one poem.

October Haiku

little ones frolic
under slivery moonbeams 
till stillness comes

a sparkled light cast
night recedes behind the stars
tomorrow sleeps
a single-cosmos
harmonious symmetry
its own star system
#haiku
#HaikuSaturday
Photo by RL Brown, a single flower from a field of cosmos in South Korea
Photo by RL Brown
Photo by RL Brown
a shimmering dance
a seasonal rain
blurred lines of change

Kathy Halsey
@infowoman1
·
Oct 9
Replying to 
@RhondaLBrown2
"Blurred lines of change", the consonance, the rhyme, make this divine.
The Korean Folk Village

weeping willows
water laterns 
twilight shift

October Rhymes, Poems, and more/Hallo’s Eve

Hallo's Eve comes once a year
certain creatures reappear.

Pumpkin faces scare the dead,
filling ghouls full of dread.

Jack-o-Lantern fools the gnome,
we're disguised and free to roam. 

House to house we seek sweet treats
pumpkin lights line the street.

Fading fast and hard to see
spirits hiding in the tree.

one, two, three, four
"EEK," and away they soar.

Pumpkin, pumpkin, pumpkin face
side by side we'll win this race.

Round the corner, house insight,
dare we run with all our might.

Safe inside we dance with glee
Jack-o-Latern smilles at me. 

Commercial free image

A HALLOWEEN LIMERICK (WIP)

Harley, the ghost, refuses to float. 
Over water, her stomach would bloat. 
Nightshades took pity- 
and delivers her to the city. 
They row across the moat by boat.  

A vampire roams the skies by night, 
foraging flower nectar to bite. 
The flowers all hid, 
afraid of this kid. 
He vanishes by the morning light.  

Nettie, the spider, tosses silk threads. 
The wind carries her over the farmstead. 
Free to roam. 
for a new home. 
She spins her web by the woodshed. 

Pumpkin Pete sits in a patch very grim. 
He wishes for a face that would grin. 
Along came a farmer, 
whose a great carver! 
Pete beams at guests entering the inn.

Skelton Bones travels by scooter
never honking the scooter's tooter
Ghosts cry yoohoo,
bats screech boohoo.
Skidding downhill, he runs over Rooster.

The old scarecrow frightens Jeanie 
because she is such teeny weenie.
Because of her size,
she hides from prying eyes,
and eats her fill of zucchini. 

WIP       oh me oh my, crazy cross eye witch. 

Shimmering rays steady her flight,
Winnie yearns to fly by moonlight. 
Moonbeams are ready. One cross eye, she's willing to try
She carries her teddy.
Together, they froclic and play till midnight. she frolics and plays past midnight

one two three four
into the sky, soar
She froclics and plays till midnight. 


Fading fast and hard to see
spirits hiding in the tree.
one two three four
scream, watch them soar 
Don't look back, time to flee. 

The great horn owl 
a dinner of mice
is a quite nice
hootie hoot hoot,
what a coot
The Last Harvest
By RL Brown

Wind rustles the leaves 
Trees shimmer yawning deeply 
Anticipation

Autumn equinox,
the balance of light and dark,
time juncture converts. 

Turn your face eastward.
Fall moon on the horizon
blazing golden hues.

Extravagant colors!
A migratory birds last song.
Light wanes for evening.

Nature's splendor yields 
a harvest of abundance, 
Thankfulness expressed. 

Inner autumn calls,
time to embrace season’s change.
The wind howls for rest.

Light narrows yet shines.
Truth displayed for all to see, 
God’s bountiful grace. 

Counterfeit death nears. 
The last harvest, winter comes.
Weary souls find rest. 

August Haikus

Morning's blush
slips through the
mizzling mist. 
Haiku Pond/Water Published @Haiku Pond 
morning visitor,
elegant, sleek, dressed in black
but you can't come in
#HaikuSaturday 
I walked in and out several times before I noticed.

Wintry winds
whistling ceaseless
threnodies
(Theme: wind) Haiku Pond submission, Aug 18, 2022

Morning's blush
slips through the
mizzling mist. 
Haiku Pond/Water Pulished @Haiku Pond 

other ideas for water


tiny rainbows shimmer in the sunlight through the mizzling mist

frosty white
glistening icicles
drip
Haiku Pond/Water

troubled matrix,
stain dewdrops of torment 
or dewdrops of troubled matrix

Sinkholes, shifting sand, 
watchful eyes staring
at a changing basin.

Shrouded storms, titans clash. 
long summer evenings
where forest and child
refuse to sleep
brontebrown2
@RhondaLBrown2
·
Jul 30
thunderous speech showers from the sky
pattering the earth's surface
liquid sunshine seeps into the crusty dirt, 
nourishing deep roots. 
a realized dream
worked for
contains real magic
 #HaikuSaturday
the essence of magic
a realized dream
worked for
free clipart/internet

September Haikus and more

The first Nissan
hopes for peace lie within
the crescent moon
On moonbeams, life frolics till night's hush moves stillness in and draws the sleepy eyes shut, all rest. 

Life frolics on the moonbeam
and plays till night's hush
moves stillness in -
drawing the sleepy eyes shut, 
all rest. RL Brown

jet lag, sleep comes when-
western time, eastern time
neither, baby time 
memories lay curled 
tumbled, dark rumble 
inner balance skewed   
truth is a plumbline 
that does not vary 
or shapeshift.
God's Word does not compromise Truth. It is our plumbline, our standard, our foundation to live by. God cannot lie. Therefore, our foundation is solid as a rock. (Amos and Hebrews)
Bright sherbet colors
familiar and strange
in a foreign land. #HaikuSaturday
annyeonghaseyo from South Korea
Yard mowed, edges trimmed-ha
It's raining, it's pouring-

The grass will grow back 
by morning- 

July Haikus and Poems

Real magic is the time 
and effort you put into 
something.

The difference between a fable and a fariy tale is that in a fable you succeed by your own efforts. That is the essence of real magic. 
Solstice's rays stretch to reach 
Nighttide's inner boundaries
Summer bows
Nighttide catenates
thunderous speech showers from the sky
pattering the earth's surface
liquid sunshine seeps into the crusty dirt, 
nourishing deep roots. 

Showers of thunderous speech
oozing liquid sunshine
splattering the dirt
Sun captures glistening vapors
snapdragons retreat
pods of rebirth
Seeds are coming early this year.
Hidden in Nature Pic by RLBrown
(WIP)
Hidden in Nature

Dangling treasure
for avid adventurers,
hidden in nature. 
Dangling treasures
hidden in nature
for seekers to find......sought by

Tenacious trekkers
journey through a rarely seen
ribbon of time. 

Wanderers capture
moments of discoveries
and lasting memories.

Capturing moments
of discoveries
and lasting memories.

The patterned pathways of
speckled sunlight guiding
advid adventurers.

As evening wanes
sunlight etches closer to 
twilight's shade

Speckles of sunlight 
Sunlight etches closer to twilight's shade
as the evening wanes. 
emits pastel hue (cool Hue) Pastel hues color the evening sky.

long summer evenings
forrest and child
refuse to sleep.

Fireflies hover
tealights glow
keeping darkness at bay

Cicadas sing
tree shadows creep. 
Silence and night merge.
Yet little ones play in evening's twilight.

little ones frolic 
on moonbeams silvery stream
 till stillness comes.
 
Moonbeams
little ones frolic
under moonbeams slivery
till stillness comes

vanishing, tranformed by a moonbean   ---stars shine, night receds behind the stars. 
light infused into the night lighting a new path
till moonbeam 
cast a sprkled light or an infused ligh
shadows and light play againtill the night hush comes
to pour a sleeping draft,
draws the sleepy eyes 
darkness comes with a peacful rest. 



Night's hush pours it sleeping draft

Life frolics on the moonbeam.
It plays till Night's hush
moves stillness in and
draws the sleepy eyes
shut, all rest. 

{Plays till stillness comes.
The hush of night,
draws the sleepy eyes,
rest. 
Yet in the darkness
life does not sleep
It frolic till Night's hush
moves in stillness,
all rest.]

Dayshadows shines Pattern Pathways 
on twisted trails 
of speckled sunlight 
patterned pathways
of speckled sunlight 
on twisted trails
designed for 
rambling rovers,
giddy gadabouts,
avid adventurers, 
dogged drifters, 
and
tenacious trekkers.

fun to play with-
Tenacious trekkers travel twisted trails through time. time turns memories into laughter.
Twisted trails of speckled sunlight and patterned pathways traveled by avid adventurers, dogged drifters and tenacious trekkers. 
Wintry winds
whistling a ceaseless
threnody
Haiku Music Challenge
1. sunlight etches closer 
to twilight's shade, 
evening wanes 

2. long summer evenings 
forest and child 
refuse to sleep

Rhonda L Brown - USA

http://stardusthaiku.blogspot.com/p/blog-page.html submission instructions
submission - Stardust - August