Clouds cover the moon
Beyond dawn’s pale horizonSun rises unseen
Colleen’s theme prompt
Butchers of the night
Let the young and weak beware;
Dread’s dark crimson mask!
Dragons of the East
Devouring hide, flesh and bone
All evidence wiped
The moon will not see
Clouds must protect its virtue
Only dawn will tell
Horror’s jaws of death
Staining horizons with blood
The red sun rises
Executioner!
Prowling the river crossing
Decapitating!
Deranged sadist breeze
Swirls delicious scents downwind
Murder awakened
The gentle giant
Dosile but quick to anger
Trespassers be warned
Family means all
Raging buffalo contests
Matriarch chastens
Nature and Life teach;
Though devils are in details
Angels reign supreme
Make a birthday wish
To see all nature’s wonders
But take heed and care
Be sure to read the fine-print
Nature; more than meets the eye
© judeitakali
Happy birthday Sadje. I left the last tanka in for you and your Whatdoyousee photo-prompt. Be careful what you wish for, lol.
The amazing animal images are from @NatureIsScary on twitter, and they inspired this.
Along with Colleen’s theme prompt , quoted at the beginning.
Hope you enjoy this, stay safe and stay loving.
For more from this week, read here;
Nature red in tooth and claw! Nice to have a very graphic reminder of this, Jude.
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Haha, yeah the eat or be eaten side. Not too fair to herbivores, but carnivores have their problems as well.
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Yes – us!
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I would gladly take your tanka and your advice. The rest of the images, though true reflection of a part of life, are a bit disturbing. Thanks for including my prompt.
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Really? I thought they were great captures. I watch quite a bit of national geographic and there are quite a number of higher levels of ‘disturbing’ above these.
I guess next year I’ll dial it down a few notches,
Happy birthday week 🎈🎂
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Thanks Jude. 👍
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Wow! A very great reminder, Jude, nature is not just cool breezes and vibrant valleys.
“Staining horizons with blood. The red sun rises” These lines are amazing, I never imagined horizons as stained with blood. Splendid post!
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Thank you so much Bubble, I came across the comparison of the red sunrise and blood a couple of decades ago in my all time favourite movie, the lord of the rings. So I borrowed the concept intuitively for this one.
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Strong ending. This one really sucks the reader in, and the pictures you placed in perfect arrangement. Good overall work!
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Thank you so much Benjamin, I might have overdone the graphic.
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Oh dear Jude….this is horrifyingly (?) beautiful….
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I’ve never read haiku about the predatory side of nature, so I decided to write something. And when I came across those stunning action photos, that meant the haiku(s) had to match their graphic nature.
Turned out horrorlike but the intention was awareness
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And you did well Jude😍😍😍
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Good one !
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Thank you Era
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The other side of nature. Well written Jude
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Thank you Michaela 🌷. Unfortunately/fortunately, it turned out to be horror-like but I guess the truth can be ugly or beautiful
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True. It definitely can be both
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Woah! Awesome writing again but the images are really horrific to look at.
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Thank you so much.
Yeah, not my intention for it to come out this scary.
I just wanted to write haiku on the ugly side o nature,
Nobody ever writes haiku about that side of nature.
And I really do like telling it different, guess I chose the right tagline, lol.😅
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Indeed! You touched every right note👍
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Compelling post, Jude! Nature’s reality, indeed!
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Was in the mood to shine a light on this darker side. Few ever want to go there, I think if I’d used its dark weather side, it’d be less horrific, graphically.
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Awesome pictures of devouring by animals and superb haikus. A wonderful post.
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Thank you so much 🙏🏾😁
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You are always welcome 🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻
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Nature in all its ferociousness, nicely done with your poems. And lovely birthday poem too.
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Thank you so much Marje. Glad you appreciate it
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Danger is everywhere. (K)
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Hehe, yeah, I loved the images though. Great captures
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Wow Jude, this was beautifully written, and more importantly… such a unique perspective… I normally see so much about beautiful nature, and this was so different 🙂 🙂 🙂
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Thank you so much Tanvi. I saw the images and was also reminded
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I only see the beauty of nature, always shutting my eyes to the gory aspects. The pictures fantastic, portraying the natural balance.
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Yeah this was a rare representation. I usually write about the good as well
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