Watersmeet Summer Ginko

At our first ginko for the year, on Friday 16^th February, we were wondering where summer had gone as we met at the Japanese Gardens in the Royal Hobart Botanical Gardens, rugged up against a cold westerly wind.

There were only four of us, partly due to the unseasonal weather, though Ron Moss’s volunteer fire brigade was called away to Bruny Island to fight a house fire that had gotten out of control in the gusty conditions.

Ross Coward recalled how Watersmeet had its beginning in 2000 in this place.  Tom Daly had brought along a copy of the Watersmeet: haiku anthology from which we read several haiku, including a favourite of mine by Ross:

xxxxxxxxxxxxxthrough the leaves
xxxxxxxxxxxxxweaving a pattern in the wind
xxxxxxxxxxxxxblue sky

We have been fortunate to welcome several new people to our haiku walks, some are beginners and others, like Jane Williams and Lorraine Haig, have a strong background in haiku. We are looking forward to the launch of Jane’s first haiku collection, Echoes of Flight, on March. 17^th.

For the moment, our meetings take the form of a seasonal ginko with a time of sharing observations and drafts of poems. These silent walks are open to anyone who wishes to join us. We are on the look-out for a convenient venue where we can extend our conversation into deeper facets of haiku and develop both our understanding and our writing practice.

We are planning ginko on the following dates:

Autumn                      Friday May 25th

Winter                        Friday 24th August

Spring                         23 November

Time and venue will be advised closer to the date. All are welcome to attend and stay on for coffee and haiku conversation.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxLyn Reeves