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tom clausen

~ poems and photos

Author Archives: Tom Clausen

Image

morning light by tom clausen

01 Friday Sep 2017

Tags

cactus, nature photography, photos, plants

Morning light around each spine...Wash. D.C. Botanic Garden 2014

Posted by Tom Clausen | Filed under close up details, gardens, nature, plants, poems and photos, summer, sun

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peek-a-boo by tom clausen

01 Friday Sep 2017

Posted by Tom Clausen in americana, close up details, deer, fields, haiku, Ithaca, landscapes, nature, paths, plants, poems and photos, summer

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deer, haiku, nature, photography, photos, poetry, summer

peek-a-boo
deep in green
a deer

 

 

deer -peek-a-boo in a green deep glade - 8-31-16
deer-peek-a-boo with a deer green deep in a glade 8-31-16
deer grazing in a green glade off the railroad bed
deer looking through the greenery

hide ‘n seek by tom clausen

01 Friday Sep 2017

Posted by Tom Clausen in americana, haiku, leaves, nature, parks, plants, poems and photos, summer

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Tags

haiku, leaves, nature, photography, photos, plants, poetry

hide and seek
under
an elephant ear leaf

 

hide and seek under an elephant ear leaf

no place to go by tom clausen

01 Friday Sep 2017

Posted by Tom Clausen in americana, barns, birds, clouds, fields, haiku, Ithaca, landscapes, nature, poems and photos, roads, summer

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Tags

clouds, haiku, nature, photography, photos, poetry, roads, sky

I had  no place
to go
but went anyways…

 

Cloud heaven on Dodge Rd. 9-1-16
clouds galore on Stevenson Rd. 9-1-16
clouds on their way someplace further...
clouds along Stevenson Rd.
circling as if that were all there was to do...
wings aloft
crows in flight...
wings high overhead
I had no place to go but went anyways...

Why We Write Haiku by Tom Clausen

23 Friday Jun 2017

Posted by Tom Clausen in clouds, Favorite Haiku, haiku, Haiku Way of Life, Ithaca, landscapes, nature, poems and photos, sun, sunsets, Wabi Sabi

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Tags

art, haiku, inspiration, life, photography, photos, poetry, relationships, sunsets, writing

Why We Write Haiku ( this list contains alot of overlapping and was intended just as a consideration of what might be some reasons…)

to express gratitude
to report something real with honesty
to share something directly and concretely
to share and create meaning
to say something meaningful in as few words possible
to communicate
to find a voice
to give a voice to nature and discovery
to celebrate our connection to nature, to all that is non-human
to sharpen and develop our awareness as a witness
to express observable truth
to give praise
to celebrate existence
grounding and centering
transcendence
to express admiration
to identify those primordial forces we love or relate to
to feel a sense of purpose
to express our longing and belonging
love for our being here now
to express joy and happiness in a moment
to show what is lost and found
as a means of catharsis
to show the aha moment and suggest the wonder of existence
the desire to turn words into greater awareness and understanding
in the eternal search for meaning and identity
to maintain a healthy focus and awareness
to attain some levity or lightness to our being
prayer like reverence and respect for what is before us
to achieve some clarity
to reduce confusion
to express insight
to improve and gain relationships and understanding our place in the world
in hope of finding a peace of mind and heart
to have an epiphany
to reaffirm what we know but had forgotten…nostalgia for our child mind
for the practice and routine of forgetting ourselves
an alternative focus and refreshing point of view
alter-identity
as a release from what bothers us or distracts us from the poetic in our lives
as an antidote to anger
to exercise a spiritual communion with our place in this world
to commune with the muse
to attain credibility
to fulfill the searching aspect of our being here now
to recognize what is mortal and immortal in us and our world
as a form of satori and connection
because we love poetry and sharing something
because we feel inspiration in moments freely found anyplace, anytime, anywhere
because we are in tune with a universal reality
to get some satisfaction
as a path out of depression
to find ‘the way’
to see and feel light
to report natural ‘news’
to commune with nature
nurture of a spiritual relation
to join a community of people sharing a poetic point of view
to be in the now
because we believe in nature and the poetic relationships small, large and wonderful
as a means of disciplined expression
in recognition of natural nuance
to exercise our senses
to praise the life in the inanimate
to write concisely
to write what is in the heart
to find our-self outside our-self
to respond to a calling
to give voice to wabi -sabi aesthetics
to be at home on this seamless journey through the here and now

 

Sun setting in some clouds on west hill... from Hungerford Hill Rd.-east hill today 6-21-15.

driftwood by tom clausen

30 Tuesday May 2017

Posted by Tom Clausen in americana, close up details, haiku, Ithaca, lakes and rivers, landscapes, nature, poems and photos, spring, Wabi Sabi

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Tags

driftwood, haiku, nature, photography, photos, poetry, spring

the way
driftwood gathers
together

 

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cat tale by tom clausen

30 Tuesday May 2017

Posted by Tom Clausen in cats, close up details, haiku, Ithaca, nature, poems and photos

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Tags

cats, photography, photos, poems, poetry

At one time we served as a foster home for motherless kittens that had been abandoned and turned over to the SPCA. We often grew attached and would have trouble letting them go when the time was right and they were ready for adoption. ‘Squirrel’ came to our local SPCA from someone who found him and two other kittens covered in maggots next to a Dollar Store. He and his siblings were weak and a mess but little by little they took to the bottle and prospered although Squirrel was easily the most difficult of the three. My daughter and I both became very attached to Squirrels siblings, me one, my daughter the other one. When the time came to give them back we had a terrible time and decided to keep just one… and yes it was Squirrel! He had been super needy, frantic, very difficult to bottle feed and quite vocal. He is now almost six years old and a lovely cat but very skittish, private, and often hides under a bed or goes in the basement up in the rafters if there is any visitor or commotion. He has been a near totally indoor cat but this morning he sniffed the outside air at our deck door and after several scared runs back inside he actually ventured out to the top of the deck stairs until a passing truck scared him, terrified he ran back inside and that was that… but here is proof that on 5-16-15 that Squirrel did indeed venture outside…

asleep
in my lap the new kitten
I didn’t want

 

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marina by tom clausen

30 Tuesday May 2017

Posted by Tom Clausen in americana, close up details, clouds, haiku, Ithaca, lakes and rivers, nature, parks, poems and photos, reflections, spring, Wabi Sabi, water reflections

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Tags

clouds, haiku, nature, photography, photos, poems, poetry, reflections, spring

in an instant
bits of childhood
return

 

 

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big clouds by tom clausen

30 Tuesday May 2017

Posted by Tom Clausen in americana, clouds, fields, haiku, Ithaca, landscapes, nature, parks, poems and photos, spring, Wabi Sabi

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Tags

clouds, haiku, nature, photography, photos, poems, poetry, spring

big clouds-
a little heartfelt
walk

 

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a cloud bank billows in the late afternoon 5-28-13
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iris by tom clausen

28 Sunday May 2017

Posted by Tom Clausen in americana, close up details, flowers, gardens, Ithaca, nature, plants, poems and photos, spring

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Tags

flowers, nature, photography, photos, poems, poetry, spring, tanka

so many things
to have opinions on
yet as I drive along
I don’t arrive
at any of them

 

iris photos from our back yard today-5-27-16 a

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Unknown's avatarPoetry Blog Digest 2… on waiting in the wings by tom…
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