Night Owl's Equinox

if equinox means

equally light and dark,

explain dark morning!

slept through radio's alarm

as if it were winter now

Photo by Taras Slawynch

Prompt: equinox

La La Land: Here's To The Fools Who Dream

I watched La La Land a few nights ago, almost ten years after I first saw it in the movie theatre.

Here's my review from January 2017:

https://owlsquill.blogspot.com/2017/01/dancing-down-freeway-of-life-movie.html

I was prepared to feel that the ending was bittersweet.

SPOILER ALERT

When I first watched La La Land, I found myself wishing that Mia and Sebastian could have had a completely happy ending, as shown in the imaginary flashback/flashforward alternative ending. But they only got part of what they wanted, career success. They didn't end up with each other because their successes were based in distant locations.

Mia suggests to her French husband that they turn off the busy freeway to take The Road Less Travelled, a side street and they follow the sound of jazz into a club called Seb's. Inside they find Sebastian playing jazz with his group. He looks up after the song ends and spots Mia with another man. As he plays a new solo piece, there is a flashback to the happy times he shared with Mia five years ago, and extends the fantasy into the present day, where they are married and have their own family. But in the real present time they have found other spouses and have families.

Mia and her husband leave the club. But first Sebastian and Mia share a long silent look, smile faintly, and nod at each other.

This isn't sadness or regret.

It's gratitude.

They were not meant to be romantic partners forever. 

They were each other's muse, inspiring the other to continue to follow their true dream and not to settle for anything less. 

Here's to the fools who dream...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xVVqlm8Fq3Y

Another Day of Sun, La La Land opening scene

New Year Haiku

new moon means new year

not seeking nirvana, just

serendipity,

creativity,

sustained good health, and

hope for better times 

(prompts: moon, nirvana)

Water Hazard (flash fiction)

Every spring Penny began the long trip home to Nova Scotia. But this time she took a detour, thinking revenge. Pollution. Climate change. Feminist outrage. Fins up, she swam onward.

Later no one could explain what a female killer shark sought, far from the Atlantic coast, on Mar-a-Lago's golf course.

Michael's Rain

rained on my birthday

got soaked dashing to the

restaurant: drippy mess

rain was you

showering me with love

reminding me to laugh

Laughter in the Rain, Neil Sedaka

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FjEkrAsUS0E

Ontario (prompt: geese)

Sailboats racing on Lake Ontario, seen from The Pearl Harbourfront's window, 2013.

Canada geese honk:

egotistical eagle

must accept defeat

Canadians keep 

their elbows up and

won't rename their lakes

Daily Haiku Prompt: geese

"Ontario" is an Indigenous word and is more than 400 years old. It means "beautiful lake" or "sparkling water."

Disappearing Act

 even the full moon's

orange-tinted eclipse fades

after a few hours

leaving just a memory

to scatter among the stars

(Daily Haiku Prompts: full moon)