“Monsoon Madness,” A #Haibun #Tanka

Posted on by Colleen M. Chesebro

The challenge words for this week’s poetry challenge are “character and wild.” I used tempestuous for character, and howling for wild.

Here in Arizona, the weather forecasters speak of “the monsoon season” and the destruction it sometimes wrecks across Phoenix and Maricopa County.

“Not to worry,” I said. We’ve lived through blizzards, sub-zero temperatures, hurricanes, tornados, floods, and earthquakes. What can a little desert wind and rain do?

My late summer garden area is complete and ready for my new dirt babies. Last week, I purchased two small tomato plants just for this occasion.

I trowel the soil, relishing the spirituous scent of the wet earth. I tamp the soil around the plant’s roots, securing them in their spacious new home.

Next, I sow the seeds from my favorite vegetables – cucumber and zucchini by poking them deep into the fertile soil.

I pause and savor the feel of the sun’s heat on my back as I water the newest additions to my garden family.

I pause near the Mesquite faery tree and give thanks to the land spirits for the bounty they will confer upon my table.

This desert expanse whose hot winds blow across the land with the breath of the mother goddess completes me. I turn and watch as ivory clouds spread like gauze across the beryl sky.

Monsoon season? What are they talking about?

Image by Keli Black from Pixabay

tempestuous winds
howling demons from hades
tear through the desert
unleashing the mother’s wrath
on the wilderness below

© 2019 Colleen M. Chesebro

No tomatoes or vegetables were harmed during this storm! My glass topped table however, is a now a thing of the past!

53 thoughts on ““Monsoon Madness,” A #Haibun #Tanka”

  12. We have tomato plants coming up all over the place. They’re in the compost we make from the vegetable waste. Not that there’s much of that. Most of goes in the dog’s ‘soup’. We’ve kept some of them and they’ve produced masses of tomatoes.

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      1. Can’t you have one of those plastic containers that you throw all your waste into? They give them to any householder who wants one here, and you can collect compost from the munical composter. Some good ideas where you’d least expect it 🙂

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            1. LOL! I plan on looking into it. I have the room for it on the side of my house and no would see it. As long as there is no smell I might be able to pull it off. LOL!

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    1. Thanks, Merril! I had no idea how these storms have morphed over the last 40 years. Long ago, I was stationed at Luke AFB in Glendale. Then, we used to get rain storms. But, with climate change these storms have really changed.

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  14. Yikes! I’m glad your veggies made it through the storm, Sis. I’m wondering if maybe you can replace the shattered glass top? Loved your Haibun/Tanka! ❤ xo

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    1. LOL! Thanks, Sis. You know, the table was old anyway. But, the intensity of the storm… I was not prepared for that. It’s humid as all get out now. Listen, you need to be careful with Dorian brewing in the Atlantic. My daughter lives on Satellite Beach and she is worried. It looks like it might go over Lake Okeechobee. I lived there many years ago. Not good. Be safe my dear Sister. ❤

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      1. It’s definitely a worrisome hurricane, especially since the meteorologists don’t seem capable of predicting its path. Right now, I feel for the Bahamas. We’re hoping for the best but prepared for the worst. Wishing your daughter all the best and may she make it through this without a scratch. I have family in northern Florida, Georgia and the Carolinas, so I’m hoping Dorian stays on the Atlantic and doesn’t touch the east coast. ❤ xo

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          1. I think your spell worked because it looks like Florida is in the clear. Winds have picked up here but it’s actually pleasant, not dangerous. ❤ Hopefully Georgia and the Carolinas will dodge the bullet too.

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  17. Those desert storms can certainly be vicious, but they are most usually short-lived. I grew up in New Mexico on the Southeast border and I remember these kinds of storms. Great use of your amazing poetry skills!

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