Blue Period

I was a quiet, sensitive teenager, who felt songs deeply, like tattoos. I’d never been to sea or travelled abroad, and longed to sail away. But I let someone underneath my skin, where there was an empty space to fill. That was where I went wrong, trusting someone who didn’t have my best interests at heart. I thought that waves of acid, booze and grass would give me lots of laughs. I don’t think so now. Digging deep into Joni’s music, I realised there was more to life, I had to break free and take a look around. Joni offered me a shell, inside a sigh, the gift of poetry, which has resulted in this lullaby from me.

Blue
Songs are like tattoos
You know I’ve been to sea before
Crown and anchor me
Or let me sail away
Hey Blue
And there is a song for you
Ink on a pin
Underneath the skin
An empty space to fill in
Well there’re so many sinking
Now you’ve got to keep thinking
You can make it thru these waves
Acid, booze, and ass
Needles, guns, and grass
Lots of laughs
Lots of laughs
Everybody’s saying that hell’s the hippest way to go well
I don’t think so, but I’m
Gonna take a look around it though Blue
I love you

Blue
Here is a shell for you
Inside you’ll hear a sigh
A foggy lullaby
There is your song from me

songs underneath skin
space in waves inside a sigh
lullaby from me

Kim M. Russell, 6th January 2025

For this first Monday Haibun of 2025 at the dVerse Poets Pub, Lisa is our host. She starts her prompt with an interesting quotation from the artist Richard Galpin, introducing a new haibun form, which includes erasure: the burning haibun.

According to Torrin A.Greathhouse, the burning haibun “is derived, through a series of erasures, from the initial text itself. The haiku is a kind of hidden message, a moment of stark truth concealed beneath the lyricism of the initial text… unlike traditional haibun, which often exist as travelog[ue]s or meditations upon an external landscape, the burning haibun’s focus is upon the interior landscape of memory.”

Our challenge is to write a burning haibun based on one (or more) of three options: on an interior journey we’ve taken; using the lyrics from a favourite song to inspire us; or on any topic of our choice. I liked the look of option two and used the lyrics from one of my favourite Joni Mitchell songs, ‘Blue’, to explore an interior journey. Copyright belongs to Joni Mitchell.

41 thoughts on “Blue Period”

  1. This is gorgeously rendered, Kim! I am especially moved by this part; “Joni offered me a shell, inside a sigh, the gift of poetry,” .. sigh.. that is so deep! 🩷🩷

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  3. Kim, I love the song choice. I heard it playing in my head and got goosebumps as I read your burning haibun. I love the gift of poetry she has given you. Your burning haibun is light as a feather. ❤ ❤ ❤

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  12. Such a lovely Burning Haibun, Kim. I agree that it is so light and lyrical. I love the title. It works so well with the shades of blue you paint in your words. It’s a wonderful time in life but oh if only we knew what we know now. 🙂

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