I drink coffee and think of a handmade, blue cup that I used for decades. That cup felt right for my fingers and mouth. I remember being told how it fell and how the handle broke off while I was away. Were I home I would have tried repairing it (without success), but it was thrown away. I did not complain. One can always buy another cup, even a technically better one, like the one I am using now, handmade and blue.
I see wrinkles change the smoothness of my skin. They’re not like cracks in pottery. They age well or not so well. What makes them age well is worth more than the gold that I have heard some use to repair a beloved cup and it cannot be bought. Whether mine have aged well or not, teenage cashiers now give me the senior discount I didn’t even know existed.
COFFEE HELD IN BLUE
SUMMER HELD IN HEATED AIR
BLUE LIKE OCEAN WRINKLES.
Linked to dVerse Haibun Monday hosted by Grace with the prompt “Kintsugi: The Art of Broken Pieces”.
Photo: “Low Tide Atlantic Ocean” by the author taken at Myrtle Beach, North South Carolina.
Lovely haiku, Frank. Captures the essence of summer and its passing nature.
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Thank you, Jane!
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I really enjoyed this piece, Frank. I liked where your mind went as you wrote it. My poem dealt with ending the cracks in hearts & souls; smile
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I enjoyed yours about your mother and your military service and how her face grows clearer daily. The main cracks we have to repair are of our own brokenness. Thank you, Glenn!
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A lovely haiku Frank and I like the image of ‘ocean wrinkles’ :o)
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Thank you, Xenia! I am glad you liked those ocean wrinkles. I am still wondering how they formed.
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I like to think of them as the ocean’s laughter lines ☺
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I see more wrinkles in my hands now when I type or hold a cup. I hope my hands aged well. Love that photo, very stunning with the blue summer, with the ocean wrinkles ~ Love your haibun ~
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I think they will age well. One sign of aging well is happiness which is worth more than gold. May you have an abundance of it. Thank you for the prompt, Grace!
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That was great Frank. I wasn’t even 55 yet when a cashier gave me my first senior discount. It’s nice to save the money, but I wondered how much I had aged until I saw a video of me walking outdoors. Wow, I thought, who is that old coot? The Haiku was beautiful as well. The coffee cup, whether blue or not is not as good as the original.
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It is amazing to get a senior discount and not even realize the store gave senior discounts. I thought I looked as young as that teenage cashier looking at me and assuming I was way over the hill. You are right about the new coffee cup. The old one was better because of all the years of use even though the new one is made better. Thanks!
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You’re welcome George, lol
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I was going to ask which came first, the haibun or the photo, but I see there was a prompt. Great natural flow in words. Spectacular photo. May I use it with attribution sometme? Don’t tell me this one was taken with your i phone!
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You are welcome to use it, Nan! I would be honored. It was taken with a Samsung phone (Note 4 or something like that) which I guess is like an iPhone. I don’t have a real camera. The prose part of the haibun came first from the prompt and then I had to write the haiku and when I was looking for a picture and saw that low tide one, the haiku just popped out of nowhere. I am glad you liked it!
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Thanks, Frank! It is a great picture, and haibun.
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Sir you magnified your writing by touch of your experience.
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I am glad you liked it! It is easier writing about one’s own experience although having empathy for the experience others might have can enrich writing also. Thank you.
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I think the haibun and the haiku work so well together, the haibun invites us to see layers of meaning in the haiku.
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I wrote the haiku as a kind of summary for the prose part. I am glad you liked it!
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Love the wrinkles that you see, and how even a not repaired cup can make you see the gold..
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Those ocean wrinkles were amazing and there are all kinds of golden ways to bond. Thanks, Björn!
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Great haibun and stunning photo. I like the “blue ocean wrinkles”.
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I am glad you liked those, Lynn!
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Isn’t it amazing how we become comfortable with inanimate objects? I too have a mug that feels right for me, but only for coffee. I have a different one for tea! I agree that wrinkles in skin are different to cracks in pottery. My hands seem to be ageing before the rest of me, just like my mum! I love the last line of your haiku, Frank:
‘BLUE LIKE OCEAN WRINKLES’.
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Thank you, Kim! I am glad you liked those ocean wrinkles. I suppose they really are shore wrinkles but caused by the ocean. Those objects we use connect us to the world.
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Great haibun, and I love your thought process behind this one. Well done.
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Thank you, Eugenia!
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So true that wrinkles can be worth more than gold. All in the eyes of the beholder. I’m happier now with wrinkles than I was years ago. Your iPhone takes amazing photos, Frank. Perfect image for your haiku. I also love “ocean wrinkles”. ❤
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Thanks, Olga! I am surprised how nice the pictures turn out on the phone. There are things it doesn’t do well, like taking night images or zooming, but for most of my purposes it seems perfect.
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Oh I love this one, Frank. Especially “Whether mine have aged well or not, teenage cashiers now give me the senior discount I didn’t even know existed.” And as I look down at my hands, on my keyboard typing this response, I see webs of blue veins….my hands in someway match my blue cup!
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Thank you, Lillian! I was wondering how to finish the prose part of the haibun and so I went out for a sandwich at a cafe I had not tried before. When the cashier gave me their senior discount, which I wasn’t expecting, I was surprised and realized I not only saved some money but had the ending I wanted.
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I enjoyed this and am impressed by the image of “ocean wrinkles.” Wow!
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When I first saw how low tide left the shore I was surprised. It doesn’t always do that. Some days the shore is remarkably smooth and firm. I am glad you liked those ocean wrinkles!
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The comparison between the cup and yourself was something unexpected but very beatiful. Haiku is indeed amazing!
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I am glad you liked the haiku and the comparison of the cracks in the cup with wrinkles on myself and the shore. Thank you!
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No problem at all!
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The two part structure that links the cup to you is beautifully done, both in the narrative and in the haiku.
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Thank you! I was trying for some symmetry. I am glad you liked it.
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Love your words and quite taken with the ‘ocean wrinkles’ too!
I have a favourite cup, in fact it is a half pint mug, but I just like it. There is a crack at the base of the handle and one day, perhaps soon, it will give and maybe spill its hot contents over me. Until then it is my faithful companion, and when the handle does break off, my cup will evolve into something else, maybe a pen&pencil holder or a plant pot…
Anna :o]
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I like the idea of using the cup as a plant or some other holder. I was surprised to see those ocean wrinkles. I didn’t know waves could do that to a shore. Thanks, Anna!
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Senior discounts and people saying “Can I help you with that?” comes with ocean wrinkles, I guess. I try not to look in the mirror. Every time I do there’s some old woman who gets in front of me ………. Enjoyed your haibun and haiku!
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When I think about myself it is as a twenty-five year old. When I look in the mirror I get a different perspective. Thanks, Bev!
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there’s a peaceful contentment growing old with grace and acceptance of our own beauty, wrinkles, lines and brokenness, but knowing we can look forward to perks such as senior discounts. In the end the memory of that cup was more precious that its physical value.
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Yes, the memory is more precious than actually having the cup. Thank you, Gina!
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the mirroring analogy on the first and second stanza is so beautifully done. the haiku wraps this up splendidly.
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Thank you, Rosema! There is an analogy between the two stanzas. I am glad you liked them.
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Yes indeed. You’re welcome
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Well done and a deeply felt story of life’s full cup and a broken memory held dear. Throughly enjoyed…bkm
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Thank you! I like your phrase: “life’s full cup and broken memory”.
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PArts aLL
WHoLe peR
Adapting more
to change NoW
Wrinkles Struggle
iN tiMe.. Face AliVe..
GRow More In VaLLey
Ocean
than
Peaks
of Youth
Riding waVes
hiGher when loWer..:)
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I like riding the waves. Thanks, Fred!
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Welcome
My
FriEnd
Frank..
Ride
HiGh
iN
BaLanCe..:)
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I share your love for a favorite cup. And your line “Blue like ocean wrinkles…” is perfect.
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Thank you, Sarah! What we use becomes part of us. I am glad you liked the “ocean wrinkles”.
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I like how you connected two different ideas. The photo is gorgeous too.
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Thanks, Angela! I was surprised to see the effects of water on the shore. I am glad you liked it.
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I really like this comparative, Frank. Do you really get a senior discount – your photograph is very misleading then.
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The photo was when I was younger, but I am old enough to get a senior discount. Thanks, Robbie!
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So thoughtful and lovely, Frank!
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Thanks, Bekkie!
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Nice one!!!
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Thank you!
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Exquisite haiku!
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Thank you, Imelda!
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Great write!! The way you connected the 3 ideas (cup, coffee and ocean). Awesome! ☺♥
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Thanks, Phil! As I think about it now, they do seem unconnected.
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I like your poem, and that wonderful photo. We can learn so much from Nature. Even about our own wrinkles,
Elizabeth
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Thanks, Elizabeth! I was surprised to see the beach the way it was that morning. Maybe it happens a lot. It did look wrinkly.
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