triveni spotlight A FEATURE EVERY ALTERNATE DAY! hosts: Teji Sethi and Kala Ramesh GUEST EDITOR: Ashish Narain
spring dream . . .
slipping my wings
into a work shirt
Michael McClintock
The Heron’s Nest XVII:3
This month is going to be a treat for our members. _()_ Thank you so much, Ashish.
Such a lovely ku.
Ambitions vs reality .....in simple three lines
I loved this poem as soon as I saw it in Heron's Nest---that heavenly allusion, suggesting both the sacred (angelic) nature of all life, humans included, as well as the pathos of our mortality. That he puts a work shirt over his wings is part of the appeal of this poem. In fact, most of his haiku are so down-to-earth they seem to vibrate with life. I am once again inspired to write more deeply by this wistful, yet firmly grounded haiku.
---Billie
Lovely poem. I like how the poem delicately describes a wish for doing and being something besides the 'supposed to’ versions in real life.
This has always been one of my favourites. I even wrote to Michael and congratulated him. I hope he is doing well. After he said he was suffering from diabetic complications, I have not heard from him. We corresponded so many times when he wrote that beautiful Afterword for my book - the forest i know. He was my first editor - in 2005, who accepted my tanka for Simply Haiku. He'll always have a special corner in my heart.
Nice!