Whippet Wisdom – a Highland Journey
A journey through the seasons with two adopted whippets, a poet and a camera
the scent of earth and pine
walk with us on the trail
the flutter of a raven’s wings
in the trees above us sings
~ the song of an inner moon ~
that soothes the inner tide
and merges with outside
in breaths of peace, deep peace
and all the love we carry
© Xenia Tran
Wising you all a blessed Monday and a peaceful new week,
with love from Eivor, Pearl and Xenia xxx
Photographs by Xenia Tran, edited in lr.
PI Poetry Prompt: Peace
Weekly Prompts Weekend Challenge: Woodland
It is safe to return to the woods now the storms have passed and it takes a while to find our bearings. Where once was a path, the ground is covered with fallen branches. Where, until recently, trees stood filled with squirrels and birdsong, we discover wide open spaces filled with light. The usual landmarks where we would turn right and right again have disappeared and we fall back on an ancient, inner compass.
deep forest
each journey still rooted
in the soil
© Xenia Tran
We hope you all stayed safe in the storms and wish you a blessed Monday and a peaceful week ahead,
with love from Eivor, Pearl and Xenia xxx
Photographs by Xenia Tran, edited in lr.
PI Poetry Prompt: Storm
Weekly Prompt Weekend Challenge: Close-Up
simple pleasures
paw prints in the sand
dance around us
with those we love and lost
and their message from the clouds
© Xenia Tran
Wishing you all a happy Thursday and a peaceful rest of the week,
with love from Eivor, Pearl and Xenia xxx
Photographs by Xenia Tran, edited in lr.
Tanka Thursday: Love
Rag Tag Daily Prompt: Simple Pleasures
PI Poetry Prompt: Clouds
on the weathered wooden walkway
marram grass bursts through the slats
birds rest on the handrails
human hands no longer touch
~ structures built to help us ~
are smoothed by wind and rain
the last two years have taught us
to seek the light again
where natural kindness rises
© Xenia Tran
Wishing you all a happy Monday and a peaceful new week,
with love from Eivor, Pearl and Xenia xxx
Photographs by Xenia Tran, edited in lr.
PI Poetry Prompt: Structure
The eastern bank is stacked with stones, smoothed by journeys through ice and water. Sitting down with a pebble in my hand, I close my eyes and feel the pulse of the mountain, a deeper dimension of where we all come from.
heading north –
the wind on the river
brushes the trees
© Xenia Tran
Wishing you all a happy Monday and a peaceful week ahead,
with love from Eivor, Pearl and Xenia xxx
Photographs by Xenia Tran, edited in lr.
PI Poetry Prompt: Journey
Rag Tag Daily Prompt: Spatter
happiness
the seamless flow
in letting go
when frost that starts at night
melts when the sun rises
© Xenia Tran
The halo around the sun in the header image was caused by ice crystals high in the atmosphere.
We will be back tomorrow with a special Review of the Year as we are preparing our countdown to 2022.
Wishing you all a happy Thursday,
with love from Eivor, Pearl and Xenia xxx
Photographs by Xenia Tran, edited in lr.
PI Poetry Prompt: Start
Word of the Day Challenge: Countdown
For Catherine Ann Cullen
A generous poet brings us a gift
of prompts and words and musings.
Raven nest with eyes that see
a circle of souls who share their quest
to nurture the earth and keep her wild,
when Imbolc gives rise to new voices.
Ideas that float can find a voice,
the shrine is lined with gifts.
In Heritage Week thistles in the wild
breathe with butterflies, amused
by truths in prickly questions
fallen from a paradise Dante could see.
The stepping stones we climb to see
eavesdrop on oceans’ voices.
They encourage a parallel quest
to both receive and share each gift
pulled from a hat by the muses
and marbled deep waters of the wild.
Autumn glitters in the wild.
The scattered leaves we see
by the gate are gathered by a muse.
The wind whistles through her voice.
There appears to be no limit of gifts
carving the path of this quest.
A blinding light eggs on our quest
and barbed beginnings in rewilding.
The saplings of poems are also a gift
that follows the moon and sees
a healthy world laced with voices
as ageless as that of our muse.
Thin ice and forbidding shallows spark the muse.
Our pockets are lined with questions
on love and nature’s survival. The voice
of the wind is a friend in the wild,
old pains are soothed by the sea,
each cushion of moss is a gift.
On an epitaph for the wild we can see we tried
guided by spirit and muses. Their voices remain
a sacred gift that shapes our soul circle’s quest.
© Xenia Tran
Catherine Ann Cullen, Poet in Residence at Poetry Ireland, has been hosting a weekly Poetry Prompt on twitter throughout the pandemic and inspired forty three new poems I would otherwise never have written.
As her residency is drawing to a close I have attempted to incorporate all the prompt words I responded to with individual poems in the above Sestina.
Wishing you all a happy Monday and a wonderful new week,
with love from Eivor, Pearl and Xenia xxx
Photographs by Xenia Tran, edited in lr.
PI Poetry Prompt: Gift
Lens-Artists Weekly Photo Challenge #179: Serene
fog
the day hesitates
in pockets
of lace and seaweed
the light is always there
© Xenia Tran
Wishing you all a happy Thursday and a blessed rest of the week,
with love from Eivor, Pearl and Xenia xxx
Photographs by Xenia Tran, edited in lr.
PI Poetry Prompt: Pockets
Tanka Thursday: Fog
Rag Tag Daily Prompt: Pocket
Word of the Day Challenge: Hesitation
looking above the bright light
of a low sun we see patches of blue sky
above the headland, a mixture of
violets and indigo blue
~ on the edge of clouds ~
between this world and there
where loved ones travel
with that special look in their eyes
as if they know where they are going
© Xenia Tran
Wishing you all a happy Monday and a wonderful new week,
with love from Eivor, Pearl and Xenia xxx
Photographs by Xenia Tran, edited in lr.
PI Poetry Prompt: Blinding Light
Weekly Prompts Weekend Colour Challenge: Winter’s Day
Whippet Wisdom - a Highland Journey 
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