The Bold Soul

N'importe Quoi: Six Mois Haiku

We are ensemble,
A force inséparable;
Each choosing l'autre.

Question or answer,
Implicit or explicit,
No matter... it's love.

N'importe qui demande,
N'importe où, comment ou quand,
La réponse: la même.

This Franglais Haiku has been brought to you by an overwhelming rush of love. Happy Anniversary, mon bel amour.

[Photo credit: Aimee Gille, 2007]

Quatre Mois Haiku

Four months to love you,
Learn you and discover you.
Four months of sheer joy.

This weekend, Georges and I are celebrating four months of our new life together, and getting a jump start on Valentine's Day at the same time. As a special treat, we've booked a room on Saturday at a charming little place in the 6ème. We will wander the ancient streets hand in hand looking in shop windows, enjoy a lovely dinner somewhere quiet, perhaps go to a movie, and maybe even kiss on the Pont des Arts. (I have been dying to be kissed on the Pont des Arts, which has my favorite views in all of Paris.) We will certainly marvel at how we began because it still feels like a miracle... and will speak of where we're going, because le monde est à nous.

So if you are on a bateau-mouche, passing under the bridge, and you happen to spot us there... don't be offended if we don't wave back. I think we will have eyes only for each other.

A Love Note Haiku

I stepped off a bus.
His eyes first caught me, held me...
Followed by his lips.

Words can't quite describe
How blessed I feel, found by him --
Needle in haystack.

One Month: Life has changed
Beyond dreams, expectations.
He is in my soul.

Photo: Georges contemplating a Raphael, Musée Condé @ Chantilly

An "I Hate Noos.fr" Haiku

Without a signal.
No phone. No email. Nothing.
Lost, without a 'Net.

I just hate the utter waste of time that ensues whenever my crappy French cable company has an all-day outage. This is the third time since January. Today it wasn't until 3:15pm that I got back up and running 100% because it kept coming on, and then blacking out again.

Adding insult to the injury, I ran out of cell phone minutes and couldn't recharge them without the internet access either! I do not seem to be able to correctly navigate the all-French instructions to recharge the phone USING the phone and a carte bancaire, so unless I can log on and recharge, or I go to a store that sells SFR pre-paid minutes, I'm cut off! It's enough to make me want to convert to a monthly plan.

However, since the cable/internet service is included in my rent, along with all my other utilities (yes, even electricity!), I can't really complain too much to the owners. I do find it odd, though, that they live right next door and don't use Noos themselves; they use some other, and probably more reliable, cable company.

A Provençal Haiku

Red poppies bloom here.
Fresh berries. Sunflowers gold.
I can taste Provence.

For Virginia Tech

Thoughts of young lives lost
And lives saved, acts of courage.
We are with V. T.

Some things will never make sense and no explanation will ever be good enough. Sending thoughts of healing and peace to everyone in the Virginia Tech community.

A 2007 Haiku

A new year begins;
Time to look forward, inspired!
What will we create?

A very happy, bold and inspired 2007 to you all!

Lisa Taylor Huff

Winter Solstice Haiku

Shortest of the year,
The Sun slept in. So did I.
Days get lighter now.

And happy SUMMER solstice to those south of the equator. You lucky people; it's COLD here!

Fractal Image: "Winter Solstice" Copyright 2003 Damien M. Jones

A Saturday Haiku

Rainy Saturday:
Errands. Cleaning. Laundry. Food.
Just real-life Paris.

Gratitude Haiku

Feeling so grateful
For love, health, friends, abundance.
I am truly blessed.

Happy Thanksgiving to all!

So Close and Yet So Far Haiku

Two out; three on base.
A ninth inning cliffhanger.
No Mets miracle.

After a spectactular against-the-wall left field catch by the Mets to prevent an earlier Cardinal "edge, a last-minute two-run Cardinals homer in the top of the ninth took the previously 1-1 tie score to 3-1.

The disappointment on the stunned faces of thousands standing in the pouring rain at Shea Stadium with hands clasped, praying for a miracle. Twenty years of waiting for another World Series.

Looks like the Mets will have to wait a bit longer.

I'm basically a Yankees fan, but still, I'd have liked to see the Mets get their chance again.

There's no crying in baseball. -- Tom Hanks as Jimmy Dugan in A League of Their Own

Counting the Memories Haiku

Four planes. Two towers.
Five-sided building. One field.
Two nine nine six souls.

Remembering September 11, 2001.

Visit 2996.

See-You-in-September Haiku

Waking up this day,
Feeling the First glimpse of fall;
I love September!

This is me, doing a little happy dance because August is DONE! Every year I can't wait to get from early July through the 'hazy, hot and humid' New Jersey summers. I'm not a hot-weather person and I go through each summer in a partial mental melt-down, where I console myself with a mantra of: "September is coming. September is coming."

And now it's HERE, and I think: "Whew, made it through another one. Now I can get on with living."

After the Explosion Haiku

Storms rage in the soul;
Long resentments break at last.
(Is it over now?)

Photo credit: Susanne Borges

Le Pew Haiku

Golden dog gives chase...
Black and white tail flashes: sprayed!
Oh, the stench is great.

Long-Lost Haiku

Old (boy)friend emails --
Where has he been all this time?
Wondering what's next.

Me and the best male friend I ever had, circa our last "date" in 1982-83 (office Christmas party; don't I look cute and so thin? He looked great in his tux, too).

Not long after this -- for reasons I fully know and understand, but cannot discuss except to say that no, he was not in prison -- he disappeared from my life. Poof! Gone with nary a trace. I knew where he was and why he was gone, but there was not one thing I could do about it, except respect his decision. And that was the last I (or any of our old crowd of friends) heard from him for the better part of the past couple of decades.

Until today, when he responded to a classmates.com email I sent over the weekend. But I never expected a reply (this isn't the first time I've tried to reconnect, to no avail).

He's been a "mystery" in the back of my mind, all these years. Many unanswered questions, things I'd like to know, the most important of which is: "Are you happy?" -- because I fervently hope he has been. "What made you break away from everyone that way?" is another... mine was not the only friendship he dropped, without warning and very uncharacteristically, all those years ago. I have theories, but they are only theories. I know and trust that he had his reasons, and he had difficult choices to make. Which is why I'm hoping he is happy with his choices and his life.

Because in my heart, he is still my friend. He is still the same goofy guy with the big cheesy grin who was the center of my social group in school. He is at the root of many of my best teenage memories. Were we "more than friends"? Yes, but not only in the way you might think. We did sort of date from time to time, but we never got to the point of it being "serious". We weren't in a "relationship". But we were "more than friends" as far as I'm concerned because we had a connection that went beyond what I had with most of my other friends, male or female, at that time in my life. Putting it simply, I loved him... but I was not IN love with him. I don't know if he remembers our history in the same way I do -- perhaps not. If circumstances had gone differently, would we have become a couple? I have no idea, and even if we did I'm not sure we'd have been right for each other. There are just too many what-ifs and none of them matter because the reality of our lives and choices are very different.

Will I get answers now? Will I even hear from him again? The door has been opened, just a little, but I really don't know. He's been that elusive "mystery" for so long, I have no idea what to expect, so I'm expecting nothing but hoping for at least one good juicy "how the hell are you and what have you been doing for the past two decades" talk.

For now I'm simply adjusting to the shock of having actually had a friendly reply, with the promise of a longer message later, from my long-lost friend. And that is enough to deal with for today.

Two-by-Two Haiku, Part 2

Pray for victims in
Saturated river towns;
I hear more thunder.

I live in Warren County, New Jersey, on the opposite side of the county from Phillipsburg and Belvidere and Easton, PA which are all partially under water today as the Delaware River is several feet above flood stage from top to bottom. Towns and cities farther south are faring no better; beautiful New Hope, PA, which I just LOVE, is completely under water including the Bucks County Playhouse and much of Main Street with it's historic buildings and quirky shops, like the sex toys shop and the witchcraft shop and any number of art galleries and new-agey places. On the Jersey side of New Hope is Lambertville, where right along the river is one of my favorite restaurants, The Lambertville Station. Guess I won't be going there for lunch anytime soon if they're water-logged. Trenton, the state capital, is having problems, too, including having to shut down the water treatment plant.

From Upstate NY to Virginia, the stories are the same. Too much rain too quickly. The rain has been happening on a daily basis for over a week and even on days like yesterday and today where the daylight hours were sunny, we're getting more rain overnight; and the forecast for the coming days includes more of the same. Locals are saying its the worst flooding on the Delaware since 1955 when the bridge shown in the photo* was completely destroyed, but the river has already flooded twice in this area in the past two years and residents have had enough. I suspect it's not over yet. Say a prayer or two for the folks who are having to cope with this and deal with both loss of property -- and loss of life. At least 10 have died in the flooded areas this week.

*Photo of the Phillipsburg "Free" Bridge, with the river and upstream debris crashing into it. Photo credit: 7online.com.

Two-by-Two Haiku

Downpour all day long,
Hard, steady, without ceasing.
Time to build the Ark?

Noah's Ark by Edward Hicks

Click here for some appropriate mood music (mp3).

Hopeful Haiku

A Wednesday meeting,
New client with great project.
Fingers crossed with hope.

Heatwave Haiku

Sun unrelenting
Too early in the season;
Wishing for some rain.

The 10,001 Haiku

It's official:

I'm tickled pink!

Ten thousand and one
Creating bold energy
Makes this Bold Soul's day!

Thank you everyone!

Tax Haiku

For better or worse,
Taxes filed; the tax man paid.
Sleeping well tonight.

Signed, A Tax Procrastinator

Haiku de la rhûme

Springtime is here now.
My springtime cold is here, too.
Nose runs like tree sap.

Lisa Taylor Huff

A Laundry Haiku

Comforter now clean;
Pomegranate disappears;
Happy New Year's sleep.