The text and paintings on The Trowbridge Chronicles are taken from the illustrated journal of Violet Trowbridge, a shrew that once lived in a village deep in the Olympic Rain Forest. Each new post will represent a portion of Mrs. Trowbridge’s journal.

Friday, July 20, 2007

HAIKU

I was reading through Mrs. Trowbridge's poetry the other night and one particular poem, a haiku about a Coast mole, prompted me to take you back to where the Shrew Khan story and all the other stories originated...in the rain forest village of Huckleberry Hollow.

If you're not familiar with the haiku, it's a simple poem consisting of three lines. The first line contains five syllables, the second seven, and the third five syllables. With these limitations, the poem must convey the message very simply. Mrs. T was a master, or should I say, a mistress of the haiku, as evidenced by this poem that she wrote about her Coast mole neighbor, Phinneas, who lived just down the path:

Mole, he burrows deep
to find some fat grubs to munch
Does he ever sleep?

Several months ago I posted this page, but it was one of Mrs. Trowbridge's sketch pages. I thought you might like to see her full color page.


13 comments:

Unknown said...

beautiful!!

valerie walsh said...

Yes, very beautiful!!!

Unknown said...

Quite wonderful!

Anonymous said...

...and funny also!!!
:)

studio lolo said...

Mrs. T has way too much talent for such a little lady! Love the colored version of her sketch, too!

Ginger*:) said...

How beautifully Violet has described the mole in her Haiku. I understand that moles have another talent worth mentioning. If you are a gardener and are loath to kill God's little creatures, take heart. The mole, when he burrows sends up the softest and cleanest mounds of earth. We use them constantly in barren patches of the yard to grow beautiful things. Occasionally those light sensitive creatures drop unexpectedly into our swimming pool. If they manage to survive the night we fish them out and send them back to their burrows to create more magic.

Unknown said...

wonderful!

imwithsully said...

I wish moles really looked like that... then I might have been a little more sensitive to their plight like Ginger. Great illo!

imwithsully said...

Your illustrations are alwasys perfectly crafted with the text ending in just the right place. Love the Coast Mole.

Unknown said...

Thank you so much for your nice comment on my drawing! Yes, a calligrapher since the age of 17 when my grandmother gave me a gift set! However, I am so rusty anymore! Your work is absolutely lovely.

Anonymous said...

awesome

Anonymous said...

awesome

Anonymous said...

I Love your work!