Tanka Sequence: Light in the Shadows

white crocus buds and leaves appearing through snow

grey walls
a grey polished floor
reflecting
our movements
the jangling keys

doors
opened and locked
by strangers
behind us a free world
turns grey and disappears

female prisoners
scan my face, my eyes
while being open
it is hard not to look
at what I can see

how blue
the light around the mother
who hurt
her child’s abuser
tears running down her cheeks

we talk and listen
to each prisoner’s song
first in rows
then in a circle
a pink light glows

© Xenia Tran

Ribbons, Winter 2023: Volume 19, Number 1

lilac white crocus buds appearing through snow
flowering currant lit up by the afternoon soon

More than twenty years ago, I ran a series of workshops in a women’s prison that linked the chakra system and its colours to meditation practice. The first session in this series inspired the above sequence.

Wishing you all a wonderful Wednesday and a peaceful rest of the week,

with love from Xenia xxx

Photographs by Xenia Tran, edited in lr.

Cee’s Flower of the Day

Lens-Artists Weekly Photo Challenge #241: Spring

Weekly Prompts Midweek Challenge: Wait

Haiku: Owl Song

close up of a snow-covered clematis seed

owl song –
mother’s hair as white
as the field

© Xenia Tran

The Bamboo Hut, Issue One, 2023

close up of snow-covered lunaria annua seed pods

Wishing you all a wonderful Wednesday,

with love from Xenia xxx

Photographs by Xenia Tran, edited in lr.

Lens-Artists Weekly Photo Challenge #234: Messages

CMMC: February Close Up or Macro

Haiku: Evening Snow

trees, shrubs and fishermen's cottages in the snow

evening snow
one by one she packs
the bare branches

© Xenia Tran

The Asahi Shimbun, 30 December 2022

a narrow street with fishermen's cottages in the snow

Wishing you all a wonderful Wednesday,

with love from Xenia xxx

Photographs by Xenia Tran, edited in lr.

Lens-Artists Weekly Photo Challenge #232: Looking Back

Jez Braithwaite’s Water Water Everywhere #161

Wordless Wednesday: Snow Swans

seven cygnets feeding in the snowy river shallows with on of their parents
seven cygnets feeding in a circle around a small island covered in snow
close up of a late developing cygnet feeding from a snowy river bank

The cygnets are nine months old now and the extreme weather is likely to keep them on the river a little longer. Their parents are still happy to have them here and so are we.

Wishing you all a wonderful Wednesday,

with love from Xenia xxx

Photographs by Xenia Tran, edited in lr.

Wordless Wednesday

Lens-Artists Weekly Photo Challenge #187: Water

Silent Sunday: Snow Meditation

a herring gull bracing the snow storm on top of a chimney cowl
a herring gull on top of a chimney pot in a snow storm

Our adult herring gulls were oozing calm while braving the snow (that followed Storm Eunice) from the top of their chimneys.

We hope you all stayed safe and wish you a blessed Sunday and a peaceful week ahead,

with love from Xenia xxx

Photographs by Xenia Tran, edited in lr.

Silent Sunday

Weekend Sky #56

Weekly Prompts Weekend Challenge: Close-Up

Silent Sunday: Viburnum in the Snow

Pink Dawn Viburnum

close up of pink viburnum in the snow
pink viburnum in a snow shower

Wishing you all a blessed Sunday and a peaceful week ahead,

with love from Xenia xxx

Photographs by Xenia Tran, edited in lr.

Silent Sunday

Lens-Artists Weekly Photo Challenge #185: Change

Cee’s Flower of the Day

Silent Sunday: Snow Scenes from the Sea Shore

a cairn on a snow-covered hill overlooking the Moray Firth
oystercatchers feeding on tidal sands with snow on the beach in the foreground

Wishing you all a blessed Sunday and a peaceful week ahead,

with love from Xenia xxx

Photographs by Xenia Tran, edited in lr.

Camera: Canon Powershot SX60 HS, Settings: f/4 – 1/400 s – ISO 100, f/4.5 – 1/400 s – ISO 100 and f/5.6 – 1/250 s – ISO 320.

I am deeply honoured and delighted to be interviewed by the lovely Bella from ThoughtsnLivesBlog about my photography and poetry for her Let’s Get Inspired Series. Part 1 of the interview was published yesterday and if you missed it you can read it here.

Silent Sunday

Lens-Artists Weekly Photo Challenge #136: Subjects Starting with the Letter ‘S’

Wordless Wednesday: Sea Foam and Silver Wings

a herring gull leaning forward on a snow-covered rock
close up of a herring gull standing on a rocky outcrop

Wishing you all a wonderful Wednesday,

with love from Xenia xxx

Photographs by Xenia Tran, edited in lr.

Camera: Canon Powershot SX60 HS, Settings: f/5.6 – 1/250 s – ISO 100, f/5.6 – 1/250 s – ISO 320 and f/6.3 – 1/320 s – ISO 400.

Wordless Wednesday

Dutch Goes the Photo Tuesday Photo Challenge: Stack

Silent Sunday: A Glimpse into Our World

leafless trees in a park covered in snow
vine-covered trees in a park in a snow storm
two oystercatchers standing on one leg for a snooze in the snow

Wishing you all a blessed Sunday and a peaceful week ahead,

with love from Xenia xxx

Photographs by Xenia Tran, edited in lr.

Camera: Canon Powershot SX60 HS, Settings: f/6.3 – 1/160 s – ISO: 800, f/4 – 1/60 s – ISO 100, f/4.5 – 1/60 s – ISO 200 and f/6.5 – 1/400 s – ISO 100.

Silent Sunday

Lens-Artists Weekly Photo Challenge #135: A Glimpse into Your World

Silent Sunday: Happy Homecoming

a swan family on a snowy river
a swan family swimming towards us on the river in winter

Wishing you all a blessed Sunday and a peaceful week ahead,

with love from Xenia xxx

Photographs by Xenia Tran, edited in lr.

Camera: Canon Powershot SX60 HS, Settings: f/5 – 1/200 s – ISO 100 and f/5.6 – 1/250 s – ISO 250.

Silent Sunday

Rag Tag Daily Prompt: Homecoming