Tag Archives: azores

Fresh strengthening winds

November 24, 2021Azores, poem, Poetryazores, dolphins, nature, poem, poetryThe Cheesesellers Wife

Fresh strengthening winds from the north roughen the open ocean
Our small boat slams into waves that grow in size, our fear also grows
Dolphins come alongside, chatter and leap, make a game of it all

This poem is my attempt at sing the sijo form. Sijo is a traditional Korean poetry form. It has three lines, like haiku, and the lines are 14-16 syllables. The themes can be natural, spiritual or humorous.

Thank you Rebecca for your poetry Challenge that introduced me to this form.

https://fakeflamenco.com/2021/04/13/april-2021-sijo-poetry-challenge/

The photo on this blog was taken by my then 12 year old son, on the trip the poem describes……

Eruption

September 11, 2021Azores, poem, Poetryazores, eruption, etna, poem, poetry, volcanoThe Cheesesellers Wife

Soft bright colour on your roof
pegged to dry in ocean breeze
flying high on the blue

The mountain bursts, vomits fire and ash
ash that drifts, soft as snow

There, on your washing
an eyelash width of coal
another and another
speckles and chars

You are running to the boats
not stopping to breathe

Later, panic over, you return to
bring in your cloths of bright colour
see little mouths burnt through
black lipped, gasping

The mountain glows with lava
makes a second dawn each night

You wrap your damaged goods around you
sleep by the door
heaped in fear

Sharing with earthweal’s Open Link Weekend.

Monday Art: Mount Pico and Sailing Regatta

August 2, 2021art, Azores, Paintingart, azores, Painting, sailingThe Cheesesellers Wife

In August 2013, we came back from a whale watching trip to find a sailing regatta between us and the harbour:

Monday Art:

July 5, 2021art, Azores, Englandart, azores, EnglandThe Cheesesellers Wife

Let’s have some summer fun. A weekly art fest, some old paintings , some new….

Kayak

February 10, 2021Azores, poem, Poetryazores, poem, poetry, sea kayakThe Cheesesellers Wife

Sunlit morning, wide beckoning bay,
Our kayaks slip off the small beach into the sea
I reach and stab at the water to keep pace with my sons
Braced in the kayak, steering into the waves,
Paddling one push at a time, we head for the ocean
Waves lift us and shake us, spray intoxicates as it spatters a face
Bright sun dazzles from wave tops and the open water beckons
To port, excited shouts as surfer meets water meets rock
Here, concentration as kayak cleaves water
The rhythm of the paddle calms my fears of capsizing
And I breast a wave exhilarated and happy
Woman, kayak and ocean

There are never enough photos of Pico

June 27, 2020Azores, humour, Life, nature, poem, Poetryazores, Pico, poem, poetry, Virtual Holiday, volcanoThe Cheesesellers Wife

There are never enough photos of Pico
Says he, as he takes yet one more
The light has changed again
And the mountain looks about to roar
We’ve flown over and around her
Driven along her lower slopes
But the best view is away from her
From little Horta’s shore

The mountain slumbers on
Fuji slopes gracefully curving down
She glows rose in the dawns light
By midday she can glower and frown
Clouds drape her and embrace her
Shadowing scree and walled-in grapevine
However far we travel away from her
Somehow that volcano is always mine

And so we end our Virtual Holiday in the Azores with a poem about my favourite volcano. The first line is a quote from my Cheeseseller, as the mountain changed once more and he took yet another photo!

I hope you enjoyed your trip. The photo below was taken just after dawn, from our hotel balcony on the isaland of Faial, as we prepared to return to England.

Lava Tunnel

June 26, 2020Azores, poem, Poetryazores, lava tunnel, poem, poetry, Virtual Holiday, volcanoThe Cheesesellers Wife

In a simple field, no different from any other
Is a clump of small trees with a dark secret
Amongst their roots, we tiptoe down a rocky slope
Into blackness.
Torchlight reveals a dry tunnel, strange shelf on the walls
Chattering, we walk until daylight is extinguished by distance
We stop, simmer to quietude, and turn off the torches
Into silence
Liquid rock once ran where we now stand in black silence
The rock around us the scum that floated on that river
The apocalypse that created our tunnel has disappeared
Into history

More on our virtual Azores Holiday……This poem is set on Terceira, all the islands are volcanic and there is plenty to explore.

Terceira is also known as the party island. The locals certainly know how to have a good time.

We will be in the Azores all week — a poem a day to fly you away……

Graciosa

June 25, 2020Azores, Life, poem, Poetryazores, fishermen, Graciosa, poem, poetry, Virtual HolidayThe Cheesesellers Wife

Where fishermen once hauled nets
Shared gossip, landed fish
Dug long tunnels in the russet cliffs
To shelter their bright boats
We now stand
Pondering the blue Atlantic rollers
As they part around the sentinel stone in the bay
We delight in the spray
Run laughing from rogue waves
Our pleasure replaces their hard toil

Day 5 of our virtual Azores Holiday, we are now on Graciosa, a small gentle island.

We will be there all week — a poem a day to fly you away……

Magma Cave

June 24, 2020Azores, nature, poem, Poetryazores, poem, poetry, Virtual Holiday, volcanoThe Cheesesellers Wife

Shards of rock lie silent
As ferns lean toward the sun
Along the sides of the great vent
Cut into a perfect dome above
Sulphur from a tepid celadon lake
fills the air

From a visit to Furna do Enxofre, an empty magma chamber in the Azores. Empty of magma, not fumes….

…the painting is my own, and one of several of the vent….

Day 4 of our virtual Azores Holiday………… We will be there all week — a poem a day to fly you away……

Glass bottomed boat

June 23, 2020Azores, beauty, nature, poem, Poetryazores, boat, nature, poem, poetry, Virtual HolidayThe Cheesesellers Wife

Swaying bobbing we peer through the hull
Eagle Rays swish beneath us chasing the unknown
Light glints on a startled shoal sashaying across the rocks
Gas bubbles up from volcanic clefts
Crabs glance sideways, looking for the main chance

Day 3 of our virtual Azores holiday!

We will be there all week — a poem a day to fly you away……