In Short

Haiku has captured my imagination. The challenge—write a poem so brief it can be recited in one breath, contrast nature with the human condition, describe a moment in time, best with an ironic twist at the end. A tall order until yesterday when, reflecting on on my afternoon, the words just tumbled out.

Early Spring breezes

Pink-white flowers in vases

A woman dying.

“Haiku is not a shriek, a howl, a sigh, or a yawn; rather, it is the deep breath of life.”” — Santoka Taneda (Mountain Tasting: Haiku and Journals of Santoka Taneda), p. 31

“When composing a verse let there not be a hair’s breath separating your mind from what you write; composition of a poem must be done in an instant, like a woodcutter felling a huge tree or a swordsman leaping at a dangerous enemy.” — Basho Matsuo (Mountain Tasting: Haiku and Journals of Santoka Taneda) p. 30

“Haiku is the poetry of the healing of culture with nature.”— Robert Spiess (New and Selected Speculations on Haiku), p.47. American haiku poet

Dabble in something that captures your interest today as you remember that exploration, not perfection, is the goal here.

Enjoy your day!