On Friday 17th July, Hobart experienced a break in the weather – no rain expected until late in the day – perfect for our winter ginko. As a change from our usual venues we headed out to the historic town of Richmond, meeting up by the river near the national heritage bridge. The morning was crisp and clear, winter sunlight playing on the river. Ducks of various colours, rails and coots, along with the odd cormorant and one exceptional black swan, splashed, paddled and dabbled in the water, patrolled the grassy banks and fought over bread thrown to them by children.
Six members were present, a mix of old and new. After a brief reading of some of Issa’s haiku we dispersed to wander, observe, and scribble in our notebooks. After half an hour of soaking up the tranquility of our surroundings we reassembled and made our way to Lorraine’s house nearby. Over coffee, lunch and almond cake in her sunroom, that looks out over a forested garden towards the river, we offered our draft haiku for feedback and discussed many aspects of the craft as well as sharing and recommending sources for further exploration. One of the topics we discussed, taking our lead from Bindii Group’s recent report on AHS, was the sketch from life versus writing from memory and imagination.
Our next ginko will be in November. In the meantime we will meet each month to learn from and encourage each other and enjoy the friendship that comes from our shared interest in writing haiku.
church bells
ducks drift along
in the sound
xxxxxRon C. Moss
rippled sky
the first blossom
at river’s edge
xxxxLorraine Haig
Australian Haiku Society 