Watersmeet 25th May, 2018

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  For the past eighteen months or so Watersmeet has been meeting seasonally for a ginko in various locations. After our silent walk, participants have shared jottings or observations, sometimes over a coffee at a nearby café. Recently, however, some have been asking for a longer session of haiku sharing, so on our last gathering we began with morning coffee and the intention to a ginko afterwards. I had invited those who were coming to bring a haiku, or something haiku-related, to add to the mix.

Our venue for this autumn meeting was the Rivulet Café. It was a fortunate choice as our more regular haunt is the Royal Botanical gardens – on this occasion it was closed because of the damage from destructive floods and winds. There were nine people present, including three poets new to haiku who are very keen to learn more about the genre. I had prepared photocopies of a couple of pages about the craft of haiku from Lee Gurga’s Haiku: a poet’s guide. Ron had brought a number of books and journals to pass around. Others brought favourite books or anthologies from which they read a haiku or two. Discussion was free-flowing and wide-ranging as we discussed the features of the poems that were shared and what made a successful haiku.

We had intended to talk for a while and then go for a walk but, buoyed by enthusiasm for the topic, we continued the conversation for an hour and a half, concluding with the decision to meet once a month instead of seasonally, and to work on developing our understanding and practice of haiku. It is an exciting new direction for Watersmeet and we are looking forward to our next gathering in two weeks’ time.     Lyn Reeves

 

It was wonderful to see such a great turnout to our recent Watersmeet meeting with members from the original group and very enthusiastic newer people.

There was a great sharing of knowledge and information and I was very happy to be able to talk about some of my writing experiences in this wonderful form.

Many questions were asked and some recent haiku shared in a very friendly and warm atmosphere. I look forward to our next meeting with our renewed focus on workshopping and studying haiku together.                  Ron Moss