on Thursday 10 August 2023
As this was the seventieth ginko of the Cloudcatchers, we met at the location where John Bird gathered a few poets together to form the group in December 2005. Since then we have assembled once a season at various locations in our vicinity, except for those Covid months, when virtual ginko were undertaken in our own homes or surroundings, on the same day, at the same time, followed by a Round Robin discussion of each others’ haiku written during the one hour silence.
This time there were eight of us meeting at Tourakina Park, Brunswick Heads at 10 am. Participants had been asked to bring to the ginko examples of haiku each had written in two categories, and these were shared: (1) concision (some even as short as four words) and (2) the sense of smell (so often overlooked as a significant observation of the senses). These were read around the table before our forty-five minute silence for observation and writing
A perfect sunny day enticed many family groups to the water’s edge, with toddlers behaving as toddlers do as they explored the sand, the sea and dodged the numerous bush turkeys that darted between the groups, and entered into our first drafts. We acknowledged that we were on Arakwal land, and noted that the turkeys are plumed in just these colours of red, yellow and black. The littoral surroundings, as well as the beach, the ocean and breakwater, crept into our haiku.
After the sharing and discussion we moved on to the Brunswick Hotel for a very pleasant lunch, with abundant chatter and joie de vivre. A Round Robin from material of the day has been circulated, and responses compiled into a worthy record of the occasion.
Australian Haiku Society 