Bella, chihuahua guardian puppy. photo (c) Barbara Kelly, Austin, Tx, USA
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prompt: lions, snow lions, foo dogs, guardian creatures
by Kathabella Wilson
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This enchanting creature (see photo at end)
greeted us at the S&G canal border
of Chesapeake Bay and Delaware on our recent trip
– – feet from the canal at the harbor restaurant.
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We’ve all known many lions in our lives,
and guardian creatures.
How do we “handle them”?
You can just barely see I was feeding this one flowers.
I’ve known many museum lions.
I love this description of “snow lions” in Tibet,
and their similarity to “Chinese snow lions” also called “foo dogs”
from the USC Pacific Asia Museum website:
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“Snow lions are not like other lions,
or even like the snow leopards of central Asia.
Instead, they are said to be
pure white with a bright turquoise mane.
Snow lions are full of energy,
leaping from mountain top to mountain top,
not quite flying but also not quite touching the ground.
They are said to be smart, always cheerful and delighted by life.
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With all these good qualities,
it is not a surprise that snow lions are a symbol of Tibetan culture!
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Pairs of snow lion statues sometime protect important buildings.
In this way, they have a lot in common with the Chinese Foo Lions,
sometimes translated as “Foo Dogs”, that protect this building.
You can see three pairs of Foo lions
as you walk through the museum doors
and courtyard, plus one more pair is up on the roof.”
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What have been the lions of your life,
where do you find them,
and how do they act in your tanka ?
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My Response to the prompt:
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(c) 3/2014 Saradunn. The Wednesday Portrait Group of Blue Hill, Maine, USA
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March 1, 2014 tanka prompt: beauty of what we do as a group (singing, writing)
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artists meet on Wednesdays
portraits galore
models ~ ten to one hundred one
some like us enough to paint
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Out of this group, we now have a Monday still life group in the same activity room. The plein aire painters started twelve years ago in the summer and now meet year round on Monday and Fridays in the library in Somesville, Maine, USA.
Feb 26, 2014 tanka prompt: bamboo fountain, also called Shishi-odoshi (deer scarer) Storrier Stearns Japanese Garden (Kath)
also called Shishi-odoshi (deer scarer) Storrier Stearns Japanese Garden
Just near the entrance to the exquisite teahouse,
at the Storrier Stearns Japanese Garden…
there is a bamboo fountain.
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The soothing sight of it remains in memory long after,
as does the sound of water.
The Japanese word for this fountain
means “deer scarer” because the balance and movement
as it emtis and fills is meant to scare animals
that might disturb the delicate balance of the garden.
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At this garden.
I heard the sound of water,
but so far not a clacking sound and sudden movement.
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We did see and hear that on our trips to Japan.
But it has a unction of refreshment and symbolism near the entrance to the teahouse.
What has been your experience with bamboo fountains such as this…
how do they sound and move in your tanka ?
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https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10151874339885518&set=oa.600366666717202&type=3&theater This is a very satisfying and beautiful poetic sight in the garden, the lotus shaped bowl fills with water… from the beautiful bamboo.)
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siggiofmaine 