Whippet Wisdom – a Highland Journey
A journey through the seasons with two adopted whippets, a poet and a camera
morning mist –
the slower I go
the more I see
kind souls who went before me
fly with me in the wind
© Xenia Tran
Ribbons, Winter 2022: Volume 18, Number 1
Wishing 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.
Weekly Prompts Weekend Challenge: Season
For Seamus
snow melt
how soon our seasons feed
the bubbling stream
I still see you bending down
to drink its water
© Xenia Tran
Ribbons, Winter 2020: Volume 16, Number 1
Member’s Choice Tanka, Honourable Mention, Ribbons, Spring/Summer 2021: Volume 16, Number 2
Seamus, a sweet lurcher whom we adopted many years ago who lived to the ripe age of thirteen, would always stop here for a drink from the stream. Ever since his passing, we find ourselves pausing at the very same spot on our walks, as if we are still waiting for him to have a drink. One of those moments inspired the above poem, which was first published in the Winter 2020 edition of Ribbons.
The poem was subsequently selected by Susan Constable as a Member’s Choice Tanka with an Honourable Mention and published in the Spring/Summer 2020 edition of Ribbons. This was her commentary and interpretation of the poem:
Xenia’s tanka adheres to a more traditional tanka form, with its s/l/s/l/l lines (both visual and aural), and its use of vivid images. I appreciate the assonance (the rhyme of vowel sounds, not necessarily the repetition of a particular letter) which appears in the words seasons/feed/stream, the alliteration of B’s in bubbling/bending, and the numerous T’s throughout the tanka. There’s also a lovely rhythm to the lines which are written with an almost-perfect iambic metre. All these pleasing sounds echo and enrich the arresting imagery.
This tanka provides some comfortable dreaming room, so my interpretations may not match those of other readers or, in fact, those of the poet. However, I sense the all-too-fast passing of time as winter melts into spring, and the poet and/or narrator grows older. I also feel the loss of a loved one who once bent to drink from this stream and, metaphorically, from Life itself.
Thank you Susan for selecting this poem as one of your honourable mention poems and for your thoughtful interpretation.
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.
CFFC: Earth
Rag Tag Daily Prompt: Guide
Word of the Day Challenge: Lyrical
eyes so blue
the child’s first glimpse
of the sea
© Xenia Tran
Presence #72, March 2022
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.
Word of the Day Challenge: Jubilant
Thursday’s Special: Pick a Word – March 2022 (asperous, effusive)
driftwood trees
after the storm
men gather
with bent backs and rusty saws
we help pick up the pieces
© Xenia Tran
Take 5ive, Issue One, Twenty Twenty Two
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.
Weekly Prompts Weekend Challenge: Variation
Rag Tag Daily Prompt: Manifold
The Akita International Haiku Network has organised the World Haiku Series 2021 ‘as a token of gratitude to our friends for their great contribution and their deep love of haiku’ and I am deeply humbled, honoured and grateful to contribute haiku and images to these special series too. A warm-hearted thank you to Mr Hidenori Hiruta for his beautiful translations, to the Akita International Haiku Network for the organisation and to all the sponsors who made this series possible.
1
st brigid’s day
hand in hand we brace
the snow storm
(Whippet Wisdom blog, 1 February 2021)
聖ブリジッドの日
手をつないで気を引き締める
吹雪
2
settling down
three generations
of oxen
(Asahi Haikuist Network, The Asahi Shimbun, 5 February 2021)
くつろぐ
牛の
3世代
3
cherry blossom
an old pen
fills with ink
(Autumn Moon Haiku Journal 4:2, Spring/Summer 2021)
桜の花
古いペン
インクで満たす
4
desert flower
carving out this life
around the sun
(Haiku Dialogue, Troutswirl, The Haiku Foundation Blog, 4 March 2021)
砂漠の花
この人生を切り開く
太陽の周りで
5
lost and found
a barn key glitters
in the moonlight
(Asahi Haikuist Network, The Asahi Shimbun, 17 September 2021)
遺失物取扱所
納屋の鍵がきらめく
月光の下で
6
first light
we flock to save
the stranded dolphin
(Haiku Dialogue, Troutswirl, The Haiku Foundation Blog, 4 August 2021)
最初の光
救うために集まる
岸に乗り上げたイルカを
7
autumn leaf
this life and the next
one breath
(Whippet Wisdom blog, 7 October 2021)
紅葉
この人生と次の人生
一息
8
lighting the…
View original post 186 more words
fallen trees –
a deeper soul can see
angels in shadows
scatter seeds of love
for healing and renewal
© Xenia Tran
We are deeply honoured and delighted that an earlier tanka I wrote for Tanka Thursday, Soft and Forgiving, has been included in Self-Portrait, Tanka Society of America 2021 Members’ Anthology. A warm-hearted thank you to Michael H Lester for selecting my poem and putting this beautiful edition together and to Eve Castle, for providing the initial inspiration for the poem with her lovely prompt.
Wishing you all a blessed 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: Angel
Word of the Day Challenge: Magnifying
Spillwords.com presents: New Year’s Blessing, micropoetry by Xenia Tran, artist & photographer who lives and works in the Scottish Highlands.
Source: New Year’s Blessing, micropoetry by Xenia Tran at Spillwords.com
I am deeply honoured and delighted that my poem New Year’s Blessing was published on Spillwords earlier today.
A warm-hearted thank you to Dagmara K and the Spillwords team for selecting and featuring my poem here.
Wishing you all a happy Thursday and a peaceful rest of the week,
with love from Eivor, Pearl and Xenia xxx
early dawn
he fills the doorframe
with his laughter
© Xenia Tran
Honourable Mention in the 22nd HIA Haiku Contest (2020). A warm-hearted thank you to David Burleigh for selecting my poem and many congratulations to all the other winners.
Yesterday we received a lovely surprise:
I am deeply honoured and delighted to be included in the European Top 100 Most Creative Haiku Authors in 2021. A warm-hearted thank you to Krzysztof Kokot for selecting me and many congratulations to all my fellow European poets.
Wishing you all a happy and healthy 2022 and a peaceful year ahead,
with love from Eivor, Pearl and Xenia xxx
Photographs by Xenia Tran, edited in lr.
Weekly Prompts Colour Challenge: A New Dawn
First of all we want to say a huge thank you to all our blogging friends, fellow poets, photographers and prompters who make this such a wonderful space to meet and share in these extraordinary times.
We are also grateful to the health service, rescue services and the large number of volunteers who continued to provide support for people and animals in need throughout the year – your work has been amazing.
We’ll reflect on the year season by season, listing the posts you liked the most.
The year began with new travel and meeting restrictions in place and we enjoyed a rare covering of snow. With less traffic, the air quality improved and wildlife moved into town.
all is quiet
in winter’s lockdown
nature gives
and we gratefully receive
the deer near our windows
© Xenia Tran
Ribbons, Spring/Summer 2021, Volume 17, Number 2
The most popular posts in Winter were Shapes and Shadows (also featured in EarthRise Rolling Haiku Collaboration 2021), Blanket of Snow, Light in the Glen (first published in Autumn Moon Haiku Journal), Festive Memories, Stepping Stones (later featured in Poetry Ireland’s Weekly Prompt Series), and Serendipity.
Travel restrictions were gradually lifted throughout Spring and we had more freedom of movement. The season of fresh growth and flowers also brought the unexpected loss of one of our much loved vets in a mountain accident and the sudden loss of a dear friend who died of a condition she did not know she had. Our thoughts and prayers are with their family and friends for whom this is the first Christmas and New Year without them and with all of you who have lost loved ones this year too.
shenandoah
a shaman plays
the piano
past the sorrows, new rivers
flow into this world
© Xenia Tran
Ribbons, Fall 2021, Volume 17, Number 3
The most popular posts in Spring were Faery Spotting, Ancient Harmonies (featuring the Baglama Saz), Earth Tones, Wild Voices, Sometimes the Wind and Flower Moon, a tribute to our vet Martina.
We were blessed with a long, warm Summer. People travelled from far and wide to spend time in the Highlands and most of us stayed close to home to avoid the crowds. In the season where it barely gets dark the days were long enough to make a few day-trips to quieter places.
waiting or leaving
the choices we make
when we’re free
© Xenia Tran
The Asahi Shimbun, 31 December 2021
We were delighted to be able to continue to support three charities close to our heart with the proceeds of Sharing Our Horizon and Between Heather and Grass:
The most popular posts in Summer were Dreamtime, which was also the most popular post for the year, Waves of Grass, Walking Back in Time, Kinship, Waterfall (later featured by Catherine Ann Cullen in Poetry Ireland’s Poet in Residence Blog) and A Fair Wind.
The warm temperatures from Summer continued into the first half of Autumn before the weather turned. With fewer tourists, this was the perfect time to roam again.
cinnamon tea –
the warmth that fills
an autumn evening
© Xenia Tran
Autumn Moon Haiku Journal Volume 5:1, Autumn/Winter 2021-2022
The most popular posts in Autumn were Autumn Sun, Soul to Soul, Moon Gazing, Autumn Turns, Trees for Life (about our new involvement with the Trees for Life Conservation Project) and One Breath.
We want to say a warm-hearted thank you to the international haiku and tanka journal editors who featured my poems throughout the year.
Special thanks to Mr Hidenori Hiruta of the Akita International Haiku Network, who translated ten haiku poems by me into Japanese for the World Haiku Series 2020.
We were honoured to contribute to three anthologies in 2021:
… and delighted to contribute to two calendars for 2022:
Thank you again for all the love and support throughout the year.
As we wrap up and prepare to sing Auld Lang Syne, we send you our warmest wishes for a healthy and happy 2022.
May you be blessed with joy, peace and wellbeing!
With love from Eivor, Pearl and Xenia xxx
Photographs by Xenia Tran, edited in lr.
Rag Tag Daily Prompt: Finale
Word of the Day Challenge: Auld Lang Syne
Lens-Artists Weekly Photo Challenge #180: Favorite Images of 2021
autumn gold –
the glen lit up
with double rainbows
© Xenia Tran
Autumn Moon Haiku Journal, Volume 5:1, Autumn/Winter 2021
The double rainbows were a wonderful sight and I captured them in the haiku as I couldn’t fit them in the frame with the lens I had with me.
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.
CMMC: December Color – Your Favorite Color
Whippet Wisdom - a Highland Journey 
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