Month: November 2017

I started writing haiku after taking part in a training course with the World Haiku Club in 2003. The form had appealed to me since buying a book by Harold G Henderson: An Introduction to Haiku in the 1960s. I also came across the poet Emily Dickinson at that time and found her short, highly concentrated poems immensely appealing. To be able to express so much in so few words. This seemed the greatest art.

I often write haiku after a walk somewhere. I find it handy to always carry a piece of paper to jot notes or even to write electronically on my smart phone. At other times a prompt may inspire me. I tend to scribble in my notebook and leave the work, then go back and either hone a haiku or abandon it. A few haiku have struggled on for years before completion. The idea has been sketched, but the words are not precise enough. To me the words of a haiku need to induce an emotion beyond logical thought and mere imagery.

white haired audience
the last violin notes
linger on

FreeXpression February 2007, Gathering 2008

Lynette Arden 2017

 

There lives the dearest freshness deep down things.
Gerard Manley Hopkins, God’s Grandeur

What I find so alluring about haiku is its evocation of this freshness that Hopkins speaks about and the way that something concealed and surprising can be unveiled and enlarged with the brevity of carefully chosen words.

For me, the way into seeing with freshness and clarity can be reached through quieting the busy-ness of thought and endless activity and centering on here and now. In this quiet space I am gifted with a sense of connection where I become aware of the myriad lives around me – the lives of insects, of leaves, of stars – and of the transitory nature of all things, including our own lives. Continue reading “Unfolding Presence: Lyn Reeves”