Ligo Haibun Challenge – Listen, can you hear?

July 12, 2013July 15, 2013 / Penny L Howe / 38 Comments

Hello and welcome to this week’s Ligo Haibun Challenge! The honourable mentions for last week are listed below. Join our international group of writers (We welcome and encourage you to join us in the creative pursuit of your written words!) just check at the bottom of this page for more details.

The challenge this week – Write a haibun choosing one of the following written prompts:

“Lost Moments”

“The earth has music for those who listen.”

Quote by George Santayana

My offering for this week is from the quote by George Santayana!

Listen, can you hear?

There once was a girl, mostly deaf, me! I could hear – when sounds and spoken words were loud, or when looking directly at the person speaking. Lip reading was self-taught (although unaware, I learned to speak and understand by lip movement and observing facial expressions). When a child, you don’t know you have a hearing problem. A problem undiagnosed, until 7 years old.

*I grew up in the fertile and lush Willamette Valley in the northwestern part of North America, spending days/years communing with nature through intimacy of sight and touch. At the age of 11, through a series of incidents, my hearing (overnight) became full and clear. Never explained or clearly understood, by professionals, why this happened or why it happened when it happened, but I woke up one morning and could hear.

And so a difficulty to describe what has not been heard before. The ebbs and flows; birdsong, breezy sounds, rustling grasses, stirring leaves, streamlets rippling murmurs, distant croaking frogs. Woodland whistles through dense trees.

I had never known nuances of sounds, nor echoes in the life force of nature. Magically magnified by my perfect ears – one hundred fold. Raw richness of sensation, the day I first heard, the music of my earth!

when first heard

nature’s symphony of life

magic inconceivable

(A true story, I have had perfect hearing since the 4th grade and have never stopped loving the musically beautiful songs of nature, nor do I ever tire of visiting Mother nature in the wild, my true home on this planet!

Taken early this morning! Thought I’d share.

All those who entered last week’s Ligo Haibun Challenge presented well written haibun. Congratulations to all of you, please keep writing. The honourable mentions for last weeks Challenge are:

Twoscamps

Anja

Penny

Peripetatic Eric

Reading Pleasure

Each of their haibun are well worth taking the time to read and enjoy. Just click their name! Again I am included. I am honored by the other judges voting for me.

To enter and learn more about the Ligo Haibun Challenge, click here!

Thanks for stopping by, have a wonderful weekend,

~ Penny

Beauty – in thought, word and deed

June 28, 2013 / Penny L Howe / 59 Comments

What is beautiful to you?

How do you experience beauty?

What is the sensation within you, when beholding beauty?

One of the most wonderful things about being human

is our ability to experience – the beauty of things.

Those most wonderful sights, sounds, touches, fragrances,

and tastes of our experiences, thoughts and memories.

All revolving around our perception of beauty.

“The most beautiful thing I can think of today – is TODAY!”

~

My share for the week! Please take this with you

if you’d like! No copyright restrictions, my drawing and words

Given with love, Penny

Can You Hear Me?

September 10, 2012September 12, 2012 / Penny L Howe / 48 Comments

Can you hear me?

Hearing is the most important of all the senses to me. I was born with a hearing impediment but no one knew this until I was 6 years old. I learned to read early (4 years old). Books and words because my passion because I was safe in my books. My other senses compensated by becoming much stronger and sharper (vision, taste, touch, smell).

When I was the age of 10, one morning I woke to sound and while it took me a few minutes to understand, I could hear perfectly (according to hearing tests at the time I could perceive the sounds of a dog whistle, and later on I could help tune a guitar to a perfect pitch because I perceived the vibrations after the sound had stopped) My mom called it a miracle, the doctors scratched their heads and tried to come up with scientific rationale (never did, lol). But I could now hear.

And the world of sound became a glorious new thing to me. For the first time I could hear footsteps, birds singing, the breeze blowing, and on and on. I will never forget that day. I finally knew what hearing was.

When I grew up, I realized I’d been given a blazing gift of extra sensory capabilities that have gone on to shape each of my life’s experiences with full blown sound and technicolor regarding my view of life and people. I paid a price for this gift as a child by being misunderstood and thought of as “slow”. Not now, but then. Perhaps the price was worth it, just perhaps. (yes, that little girl at the top of this post is a photo of me)

For those of you who have asked me where my passion about the senses (and the sensual side of things) comes from, the above story would be the reason why.

My most sincere counsel to all who read this … Listen my friends, listen to all those sounds you take for granted every single day, they add so much to your life,

I know this to be true. Listen and hear the children when they speak to you, their words are very important ones. Listen to the music of life in all its many splendors.

Really really listen…can you hear me, my friends … Listen!

The Colors of My Sound

Can you hear then

these the colors of my sound

vibrating sensations and frequencies,

Can you see then

a flowing rainbow of colors

the colors of my sound,

Is there a fragrance

to the colors of my sound

a sirens call,

Can you feel my sound

a pulsing cadence and rhythm,

Are colors in my mind

Seen only by me

Please say you too can hear

the colors of sound

for I would wish to share

these sensual impressions

of life and love

With you!

*****

***

Thank you for all who visited me today, to my special friends who keep returning, thank you for enriching my life with your beautiful and creative posts and for coming to my blog and commenting, know that I am very blessed to have you in my life. your friend, Penny