"Animalistic Reasoning"

"Animalistic Reasoning"

-Ashley Serena

A deer bounds behind shrubs 

Her heart pattering at the thought 

Of what a human could do

If it came near enough

For they show many faces 

Those bipedal beasts

Voices hush and eyes crinkle

As they smile with their teeth

Saying, "Come, little darling,

This hand won't harm, 

You need more than your pelt

To keep yourself warm."

Is it through a skeptic's lens

A deer views man, then?

However can she tell 

A hunter from a friend?

"Best to have another day

To decide what is best,"

Is the thought of the deer,

Her breath caged in her chest

"It is easier to view the intentions of man

From a hillside, a mountain, a faraway land." 

And so, the deer lengthens her limbs

Sprinting as hard as she can

From maybe, from perchance

From risky interaction

But what the deer does not know is 

The farther away she leaps

The farther from a friendly touch

Her heart she does keep

{"Animalistic Reasoning" © Ashley Serena}

{image via WeHeartIt}

"The Girl from Abroad"

The woman who acted as my guide 

as I learned how to teach English to Japanese students,

just sent me a haiku that she wrote 

for me.

花影に

異国の乙女

また想う

When I see cherry blossoms, 

I miss the girl 

from abroad, again.

My heart is overflowing, right now.

As are my eyes.

{"The Girl from Abroad" © Yuko Yoshimura}

{images © respective owners}

"春は初恋 Spring Love"

I wrote this haiku during class. Quite literally, it reads:
haru wa hatsu - A new springkoi ni ochikeri - The remnants of falling in loveaki wa aku - Tired in autumn
Here's my English version:

Aw, that's sad... o(；△；)oBut the Japanese traditionally link spring with budding love and autumn with wearied love.So, I experimented with that idea.
         

"haru wa hatsu" and "aki wa aku"

contain an alliteration in Japanese that make it pleasing to the ear.
"hatsu" is the end of the first line,"koi" is the beginning of the next line."hatsu-koi" means "first love".If read correctly, these lines can be linked with a dual meaning.

Delving into literature and the arts of the language you're studying is a beautiful way to strengthen your understanding of it.
{"春は初恋 Spring Love" © Ashley Serena}

"The Fox's Trick"

The Fox's Trick

キツネの技

~ Shimazaki Touson

Little fox hiding in the garden

In the evening when all are away, sneaks

Into the autumn shadows of the grape arbor

Secretly stealing a cluster of dew-tipped grapes

But my love is not a fox

Nor you the grapes, yet

In secret, with no one knowing,

My heart has stolen you

{images via WeHeartIt}

"You're Too Much a Part of Too Much"

My roommate wrote this prose poem.
I thought it was beautiful.

Ashes
Kamille Dayley

"We need to talk. Call me back. Please don't ignore me anymore."

              You can cut yourself on those icicles.

                          And so much left unsaid.

You jerk, you heartbreaker, you two-timing sonofa

You said you'd made your choice. There's not a We anymore.

Stop acting like there is.

                                          It hurts too much.

You're acting exactly the same as before.

Except, she's the one you're kissing.

             You're not the only one involved

I can't cut you out completely; you're too much a part of too much.

                           More's the pity.

            So at least

            Let me move on.

                         I hate that I still care about you

It's so utterly unfair.

The sun shines, though

through the haze surrounding my head.

I have a second chance with the musician sometime soon.

Current Theme Song:

{images via WeHeartIt}

"One of My Favorites"

"Love"

by Billy Collins

The boy at the far end of the train car

kept looking behind him

as if he were afraid or expecting someone

and then she appeared in the glass door

of the forward car and he rose

and opened the door and let her in

and she entered the car carrying

a large black case

in the unmistakable shape of a cello.

She looked like an angel with a high forehead

and somber eyes and her hair

was tied up behind her neck with a black bow.

And because all of that,

he seemed a little awkward

in his happiness to see her,

whereas she was simply there,

perfectly existing as a creature

with a soft face who played the cello.

And the reason I am writing this

on the back of a manila envelope

now that the two have left the train together

is to tell you that when she turned

to lift the large, delicate cello

onto the overhead rack,

I saw him looking up at her

and what she was doing

the way the eyes of saints are painted

when they are looking up at God

when he is doing something remarkable,

something that identifies him as God.

{Image via Emmy C}

"Whimsical Musical"

{Image via Emmy/B1nd1}

I thought I'd share with you the poem that inspired the name of this blog.
It was written a few years ago when I was trying to understand all the feelings someone gave me.
And he barely knew I existed. {smile} I think that's what made it so whimsical.

Whimsical Musical
© Ashley S. Harmon

On a whim
I smile
On a turn
You wink
On a breath
I sing
On a laugh
You come

Off a cloud
I jump
Off a step
You bound
Off a horse
I drop
Off a laugh
You come

In a house
I sleep
In a dream
You wave
In a class
I write
In a laugh
You come

Out a door
I soar
Out a world
You love
Out a hand
I hold
Out of laughs
You come