Poetic Sketch
by Marie Bortolotto

1/

underfoot --
faded voices
of dead leaves

 

2/

under construction --
the pink Chinese Church
gets resurrected

Marie Bortolotto

 

 

Poetic Sketch
by Marie Bortolotto

rain-soaked
under an umbrella
golden leaves

Marie Bortolotto Art

Poetic Sketch
by Marie Bortolotto

1/

walking on sunshine
how beautiful!

2/

morning walk --
a melodious bird song
fills my heart

Marie Bortolotto Art

Poetic Sketch
by Marie Bortolotto

October sunshine!
walking through a leaf storm

Marie Bortolotto Art

Poetic Sketch
by Marie Bortolotto

1/

ruffled crow
on a stop sign --
red alert!


2/

retirement dreams -- an old man pushes a bread delivery trolley

Marie Bortolotto Art

Poetic Sketch
by Marie Bortolotto

glittery dew --
the last rosebud
sheds tears

Poetic Sketch
Marie Bortolotto

a black crow keeps watch
atop
the pink Chinese Church

Poetic Sketches
by Marie Bortolotto

1/

sad memory
mother washing
breakfast dishes

2/

fluffy clouds
blue skies
walk onwards


3/

What should I do?
So many poems awaiting a voice!

Marie Bortolotto Art

Poetic Sketch
by Marie Bortolotto


Buddhist temple
on the horizon
a mountains sits

Poetic Sketches
by Marie Bortolotto

1/

how sad!

last flowers of summer
turn their death masks
toward the ashen sky


2/

breathing in
breathing out
each day
a miracle


3/

lost poems --
arriving from nowhere
memory releases them
into the wordless realm


4/

searching for poems --
how many miles have I walked in these shoes?

Haiku
by Marie Bortolotto

chilling wind --
a rosebud clings
to the branch

Short Verses
by Marie Bortolotto

1/

fleeting moment --
I release my grasp
as
a
dead
leaf
falls
to
the
ground

2/

an old couple shuffle
along the path
with heavy footsteps
a stroke of insight
lightens my heart

Marie Bortolotto Art

Short Verse
by Marie Bortolotto

autumn eve
yellowed leaves fall
this way and that
scattered thoughts
in the wind

Marie Bortolotto Artist

" Poetry is the way to live with a true and honest heart."

- Ozawa Roan (1723 - 1801) from Unsung Heroes of  Old Japan
  written by Isola Michifumi

Ozawa Roan was a waka poet and scholar of Japanese classical
literature, who lived during the mid-Edo Period

Art - Marie Bortolotto

Short Verses

1/

Reflecting on this fleeting
world
makes me sad --
like rain from the sky
my tears falling

2/

How enviable
true to their hearts
they bloom
such fleetingly, gracefully
falling cherry blossoms


~ Rengetsu, Japanese Artist, Poet, Nun (1791 - 1875)

Art by Marie Bortolotto

 

Poetic Sketch
by Marie Bortolotto

heart-shaped post-it note on the mirror -- be free

Marie Bortolotto Art

Poetic Sketches
by Marie Bortolotto

1/

forlorn woman
shrouded in drizzle

2/

homeless man --
our eyes meet in silence

3/

homeless man --
I throw some coins into his baseball cap

4/
noisy intersection --
a woman scurries with her yappy dogs

5/

walking --
the rain pours down on my lonely thoughts

6/

empty bowl -- a beggar sits cross-legged on the pavement

7/

tiptoeing --
fallen chestnuts
helter-skelter

8/

a lone crow strolls down the rain-soaked street



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Marie Bortolotto Art

Poetic Sketches
by Marie Bortolotto

1/

cloudy day
my breath lost
in the wind

2/

rainy day
this too shall pass
walk on


3/

each day,
I wait for poems
to enter my heart

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Marie Bortolotto Art

 "Nothing To Say" Marie Bortolotto 2024

Visit My Artist Website

Free-Form Haiku
by Marie Bortolotto

breathing in
breathing out
that's all you need to know

"That's All You Need To Know" Marie Bortolotto 2024

"

Free-Form Haiku
by Marie Bortolotto

1/

walking and waiting
no poems today

2/

waiting --
a poem appears
out of nowhere

3/

What was I seeking years ago? I don't remember --
Nothing to find but what's here!

4/

breath of fresh air --
the wind blows away my thoughts

5/

momentary respite
cackling crows lecture me
atop the cell phone tower

Marie Bortolotto Image

Free-Style Haiku
by Santoka Taneda (1882-1940)

1/

I have no home;
Autumn deepens

 

2/

Well, which way should I go?
The wind blows. 

 

Marie Bortolotto Art

Poetic Sketch
by Marie Bortolotto

I've climbed many mountains
in search of a worthy sage
but not a person was found

now I wander the flat roads
wisdom is nowhere, but here --
in the quiet of my own breath

Haiku
by Marie Bortolotto

1/

daily pilgrimage
listening for poetry
hidden in silence

 

2/

why are you complaining?
a crabby crow squawks
into the morning gloom

Short Verse
by Marie Bortolotto

old Sikh, draped in white
walking stick in hand
flourescent orange turban
wrapped around his head

circumambulates the park
chanting holy names in concert
with a cacophony of crows

Poetic Sketch
by Marie Bortolotto

What will you make of your life
when the bloom is off the rose
and delusions no longer fascinate?

Was it all you thought it would be?

Did you find what you were seeking,
fall on your knees, in awe?

Remember --

It's never too late
to find beauty hidden
in the silence of things

Marie Bortolotto Art

We weep for a bird's cry, but not for a fish's blood.
Blessed are those with a voice.

-  Mamoru Oshii

Poetic Sketch
by Marie Bortolotto

while at the park
my mind wanders
finding refuge in the moment
I close my eyes and listen --
to what?

bird calls
construction
dogs barking
wind blowing
traffic noise
footsteps
airplanes
motorcycles
garbage trucks
human voices
squirrels
car horns
cell phones
leaf blowers
bicycles
children's laughter
my breath,
my heartbeat

and in between all of these --

SILENCE

Haiku
by Marie Bortolotto

1/

hot and humid --
a bird's cry breaks silence


2/

soon the trees will lose their leaves
stand naked in the bitter wind
it's a miracle they survive at all
after everything is taken from them

Haiku
by Marie Bortolotto

everyday
walking nowhere
arriving here