Winter Collaborative Works by Angelee Deodhar, Raveesh Varma, and Marianne Szlyk

Although, in Maryland, we have lost much of our snow, I thought it would be a good night for some snow angels...that is...Angelee Deodhar and Raveesh Varma's collaborative haibun.

                                              Collaborative Haibun : Snow Angels

darkening park-

frost bitten leaves

crackle underfoot

New Year optimism: the helplessness of childhood and adolescence shed, today  I feel less dependent on the few kindnesses of others. My unsure twenties were spent in a cold, defenseless, damp place, looking for predators in dark crevices. In my thirties. with a family and a profession, I felt there was a slot I could fit into.

I feel an abiding regret for my childhood and adolescence ,for that lost innocence as I relentlessly pushed my emotional needs aside, to take care of a future for then I would have more time. Time for what, I wonder?

I am not scared of predators anymore, but I do have a sense of loss which does not go away . So, as I greet this New Year I will forget regret and make my own adventures. Today, that sense of belonging, not to the world but to  myself makes me free.

prayers forgotten

leaf shadows shimmer

to a warbler's song

The next two pieces (a haibun and a poem) are by Angelee alone.  

She gives a definition for the first title, "Thaumaturgy" here:

Note :Thaumaturgy is the capability of a magician or a saint to work magic or miracles. Isaac Bonewits defined thaumaturgy as "The use of magic for nonreligious purposes; the art and science of 'wonder working;' using magic to actually change things in the physical world."^[1] It is sometimes translated into English as wonderworking.

Angelee provided some music for "Thaumaturgy":

   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o7FBfuFtC5g

Steve Miller Band - Fly Like an Eagle,1976 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9oLtCaQ81H8

Eagle Feather - Native American music 

Her poem  "Namu-amida-butsu" is below:

Notes :zazen (literally "seated meditation";  is a meditative discipline which can be regarded as a means of insight into the nature of existence.

Namu-Amida-Butsu  is the Japanese version of the original Sanskrit term Namo Amitabha Buddhaya, which means “I take refuge (entrust) in the Buddha of Immeasurable Life and Light.” http://buddhistfaith.tripod.com/beliefs/id9.html

The music for "Namu-amida-butsu" follows:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EiL78WlFMio

Om namo Buddhaya (Ehre sei dem Erwachten).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ABy95341Dto

GREATEST BUDDHA MUSIC of All Time - Buddhism Songs | Dharani | Mantra for Buddhist, Sound of Buddha

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4u2Kdj2io3M Best Buddha Wisdom Quotes & Music Playlist

I'll finish with a haibun that Angelee created, transforming a poem of mine that was published in Silver Birch Press' Same Name series:

Here is a link to my poem as it was originally published:

https://silverbirchpress.wordpress.com/2016/01/19/in-pale-november-poem-by-marianne-szlyk-same-name-poetry-and-prose-series/

Angelee provided links to some classical music:
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HtHQvPk753E

NOVEMBER ADAGIO CLASSICAL VERSION - MUSIC GEORGE KARTSONAKIS

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q8AN0jWNrJA

 VIVALDI "The Four Seasons" - Autumn

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F8zxb6a6pps

Stimming - November Morning (Brandenburgisches Staatsorchester Version) 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XMbvcp480Y4

Adagio in G Minor (Albinoni) The Adagio in G minor for violin, strings and organ continuo, is a neo-Baroque composition popularly attributed to the 18th century Venetian master Tomaso Albinoni, but in fact composed almost entirely by the 20th century musicologist and Albinoni biographer Remo Giazotto.

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=39DNaNAMKAU

Beethoven - Silencio