Sunday, 6 November 2011

Poppies In Winter?

They will be blooming in advance of Remembrance Sunday next week, though I've  only seen ones on television so far this year. November has many associations with death - think of Halloween and the Day of The Dead, as All Saint's Day is known in some countries.

So it is no surprise to see that Tess at Magpie Tales has chosen a photograph of a tombstone for her prompt today, nor will it be a surprise that I've chosen to play with its colours before  writing the following tanka, in suitably lugubrious vein. Even a Jinksy clown has serious moments.




And we remember
at the dying of the year
those dead in battles
long since past, in far off lands -
but closer to home, this day.
Posted by at

28 comments:

  1. Mimi Foxmorton6 November 2011 at 17:05

    Peaceful.
    :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. anthonynorth6 November 2011 at 17:12

    The right words for this time of year.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Martin6 November 2011 at 20:15

    Nicely put, Jinksy

    ReplyDelete
  4. christopher6 November 2011 at 20:26

    I had a touch of remembrance in mine too.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Hilary6 November 2011 at 23:13

    Lovely, Jinsky.

    I've been wearing my poppy for the past week now. They're in many stores readily available for a donation.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Kay6 November 2011 at 23:37

    i have done a similar take...but love yours ;) x

    ReplyDelete
  7. C.M. Jackson7 November 2011 at 00:00

    Beautiful and poignant ...

    ReplyDelete
  8. JJ Roa Rodriguez7 November 2011 at 00:05

    nice take!

    JJRod'z

    ReplyDelete
  9. Anonymous7 November 2011 at 00:07

    Very beautiful, heartfelt, sombre, with a definite rightness.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Tumblewords:7 November 2011 at 02:54

    Nicely said, timely and thoughtful!

    ReplyDelete
  11. Isabel Doyle7 November 2011 at 08:35

    Poppies are derigeur for remembering le geurre

    ReplyDelete
  12. izzy7 November 2011 at 13:24

    Nice ! very succinct and fluid, Thanks!

    ReplyDelete
  13. Brian Miller7 November 2011 at 15:51

    a lovely poem of rememberance jinksy...we should keep them in mind for sure for the sacrifices made for us...

    ReplyDelete
  14. Nana Jo7 November 2011 at 18:12

    Lovely, poignant. I like the way the play on colours in the photograph reflect the way lives can become surreal when dealing with the torment of loss. A colleague lost his 21 year old son in Afghanistan last March and I am thinking of him now.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Jinksy7 November 2011 at 18:18

    Nana Jo - you picked up on the surreal aspect of my altered picture. That's it exactly, although I only felt, rather than reasoned that fact. Thank you for putting it into words.

    ReplyDelete
  16. Susie Clevenger7 November 2011 at 19:08

    This is the time of year I remember my mother. She died in November. Also my father was a WW II veteran. He passed away in January of this year. Thank you for your work on the image and your words....They so express my feelings

    ReplyDelete
  17. Roy Schulze7 November 2011 at 20:26

    A nice tight little poem. Until now it had never occurred to me that we cram so much death into the end of the year. My Magpie this week is A Plot Both Great and Grand.

    ReplyDelete
  18. Lyn7 November 2011 at 20:28

    So touching..a lovely remembrance, full of true feeling...thank you...

    ReplyDelete
  19. Anonymous7 November 2011 at 20:48

    Nice - and I really like what you did with the image...

    ReplyDelete
  20. Intelliblog8 November 2011 at 08:41

    I like your altered image and as Remembrance Day looms closer, it is a wonderful take on this image.

    ReplyDelete
  21. Margaret9 November 2011 at 01:25

    ....and I raise my glass. Nicely done

    ReplyDelete
  22. Baishali9 November 2011 at 04:04

    so brilliant ... amazing play of colors and words to depict the truth of life and death.

    ReplyDelete
  23. hyperCRYPTICal9 November 2011 at 13:49

    Beautiful Jinksy.

    Anna o]

    ReplyDelete
  24. Helen10 November 2011 at 01:35

    Classic! Penny at the top of her game ....

    ReplyDelete
  25. Carrie Van Horn10 November 2011 at 12:39

    A lovely remembrance Penny! :-)

    ReplyDelete
  26. keiths ramblings10 November 2011 at 17:41

    They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old,
    Age shall not weary them, nor the years contemn.
    At the going down of the sun and in the morning
    We will remember them.

    Laurence Binyon (1869-1943)

    ReplyDelete
  27. Jinksy10 November 2011 at 17:44

    Keith's Ramblings - I can never hear/read those words without tears blurring my vision...

    ReplyDelete
  28. ds12 November 2011 at 20:41

    Amen.

    ReplyDelete

Curiosity Cats can leave a whisker here...but not before noting, please, that I choose to have an award free, tag free, meme free blog. But by all means, talk to me by email - I love to 'chat'...

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)