On Wednesday, 19 February, eight poetically minded people met at the WA Museum, Boola Bardip, in Perth. Sitting between the original heritage building and the new glass addition of the museum, we enjoyed a morning of haiku.
Led by Coral Carter and Rose van Son, we began by considering the idea of the ‘pause’ as a moment to stop and observe and then make that observation concrete in words. It was a beautiful, not too hot, morning and after a bit of discussion and some readings, we separately went in search of haiku.
The eight were Rose van Son, Coral Carter, Pat Johnson, Rita Tognini, Madeleine Tingey, Neil Pattinson, Ruari Jack Hughes, and Gary De Piazzi.
colonial buildings
cower under
city skyline
Gary de Piazzi
limestone and bricks
now tuck-pointed
Pat Johnson
the oldest grapevine
memories of father’s
planting
Rose van Son
gardener’s memorial — who tends the historic vines now?
Coral Carter
the smell of coffee
O rapturous aroma
surely God drinks it
Ruari Jack Hughes
an iron-ore eagle hunts in the museum courtyard
the solace of the faux-wild
Rita Tognini
historical vine
outside the gaol
tendrils unfurling
Madeleine Tingey
Patricia Johnson
Australian Haiku Society 