invocation

Photo from Morguefile

For thousands of years, the Mglingu of Nili in the Partha archipelago have offered prayers invoking the seasonal rains (and snows in the mountains) that have allowed their island to flourish. As part of their prayer cycles and attendant rituals, the tribe constructs totemic blooms of straw mounted on fibrous stems to mimic the desired floral fertility they are praying for. These are shown above.

This year, due to rising sea levels that threaten the island, as well as continued droughts, the tribal shamen have advised substituting pieces of giant barrel sponge (Xestospongia muta) growing on the offshore corals for the straw, thus “killing two birds with one stone,” an expression that the Mglingu dislike intensely.

for Sunday Photo Fiction

haiku

humpback lobtailing
smack of its smooth pointed fluke
whale watchers ooh aah

for dVerse Poet’s Pub

haiku

wild mustangs gallop
untamed being herded by
BLM copters

for Ragtag Daily Prompt

haiku

environment gone
no wistfulness shown by birds
just by bird watchers

for Reena’s Exploration Challenge

HR

“Don’t get up, gentlemen,” I say.

Shouldn’t have said that. Nobody was going to get up. Bad start.

“We’ve called you here because we have an employee who should probably be let go,” says Brad, the head of Engineering.

“Sorry. That’s not really my call,” I say.

Shouldn’t have said that.

“Of course it’s not your call,” Brad says, doing that thing with a pen where it wends its way through your fingers. “Just because you’re in HR, don’t start getting high and mighty. You’re a counselor. We want you to counsel this employee. You’re her last chance.”

I lift my head back up. Got to stop letting it hang when I’m corrected.

“Sorry. What’s her problem?” I say.

Shouldn’t have said that.

“She doesn’t have a problem,” Brad says. “Just ask her. She’ll tell you, no problem. We’re the ones with the problem. Her.”

“Sorry,” I say. “What does she do that constitutes your problem?”

“Stop saying you’re sorry. You’re a counselor… Evelyn tells us that she’s decided to live her life in better balance. On the computer, she’ll only do her work with her right hand. She’s right-handed but she uses her left to do only what she refers to as personal work.”

“Sorry about saying sorry. I’ll do better… I presume when I interview her, I should look her in the right eye and speak toward her right ear.”

Brad looks at me like a lot of people look at me. I detect my head beginning to hang and bring it back up.

“Sorry,” I say.

for The Online Writer’s Guild

haiku

Image Source

songbirds at twilight
touch my heart with their music
teacher no help here

for The Sunday Muse