The Spring ginko, organised by Paperbark Haiku, was held on 15th October 2024, with a return visit to the Botanic Gardens at Kings Park in Perth. It was a glorious day, the weather sunny and warm, the views over Perth waters and the high rise of the city making a spectacular backdrop. It was a perfect setting for discussing and writing haiku. The Spring flowers, the towering trees and the memorials of Remembrance all gave the poets plenty of opportunity for inspiration.
There was an excellent turn out, both well-established haiku writers and new writers keen to learn the intricacies of this form of poetry. Its very brevity makes it appear to be so simple, but the subtlety of composing a striking poem, using our observations, is often illusive. The attendees were urged to read as many haiku as possible, to write at every opportunity, and to think haiku. At some point the mind begins to consider practically everything you see and do in the form of a haiku, and it does have a profound effect on how you see the world, particularly the world through which we pass each day. You can be in a park or a car park, or in the cinema or shopping centre, it doesn’t matter, surrounding you are potential haiku, the trick is to see them.
The group enjoyed morning coffee before dispersing to explore the gardens around them. Each wrote down some of their observations, not necessarily fully formed poems, but an idea from which one could emerge. After the walk many of these poems and ideas were read out and it is always interesting to see the many avenues of thought we go down, even when we all approach the same idea. Our creative being is one of the great gifts we have as human beings and it always a pleasure to sit with like-minded people and discuss their work and try to understand their approach to writing.
Those attending were: Barry Sanbrook, Coral Carter, Rose van Son, Michael Sparks, Gary De Piazzi, Ruari Jack Hughes, Pat Johnson, Mardi May, Nita Teoh, Neil Pattinson, Fiona Evans, Gillian Sands, Mimma Tornatora.
Some of the haiku written at the ginko:
a honeyeater
nests in
a Ficus
Barry Sanbrook
war memorial
Silver Princess
weeping
Mardi May
red and yellow hats
students learn
the park’s history
Rose van Son
flickering flame
sacrifice beyond years
bygone era
Mimma Tornatora
a grand view
but I watch an ant
climb a blade of grass
Pat Johnson
old banksia flower
an echidna hides
in plain sight
Gary de Piazzi
nature’s museum
an insect mounts
my page
Fiona Evans
water
fire
contemplation burns
Michael Sparks
Australian Haiku Society 