On Wednesday 21st August, a beautifully warm and sunny day, seven haiku poets, friends and family members, met at the Sydney Cherry Blossom Festival in Auburn to take part in a reading and ginko led by Vanessa Proctor. The theme of the day was spontaneity as our expected location was not available. With some quick thinking, we found a bench and some chairs beside the billabong in the shade of a fig tree.
We began by reading haiku about blossom and gardens. Reading their own haiku and the haiku of other poets were Gwen Bitti, Subha Goonaratne, Margaret Mahony, Leanne Mumford, Rita Potente and Carol Reynolds. During the readings, crows, as well as a flock of pigeons, alighted on the branches of the fig. Behind us geese drifted on the billabong and all around us peacocks and brush turkeys made their way through the undergrowth. In addition to our spontaneous avian audience, a group of high school students from Bass Hill High came to listen to our haiku.
After the readings, Vanessa Proctor spoke about haiku, the concept of wabi sabi and why we are so drawn to cherry blossom. We undertook a ginko in the Native and Rainforest Garden to find inspiration. On our return we shared and discussed haiku we’d written. Finally we went to view the cherry blossom and savour the delights of the festival food stalls. A thoroughly enjoyable and spontaneous day.
walking meditation…
my mother stops
at the cherry blossoms
Samantha Sirimanne Hyde
Report and blossom photo by Vanessa Proctor
Australian Haiku Society 