A Haiku novice’s takeaways

My writers group experimented with Haiku the other day. It’s a poetic practice that focuses and refines your thoughts in the telling. It could become a habit! My examples don’t adhere to the spiritual and artistic standards of genuine Haiku, but do encapsulate that sense of ‘being in the moment.’ Sometimes—at least to me—my shutter-takes are serious and beautiful; sometimes they’re seriously whimsical and funny.

Weeping Willow

Driving out of the parking lot of the Duncan Aquatic Centre, I was delightfully startled by the form of a willow tree on the grounds of the recently vacated Duncan Secondary School. It’s spring, so the willows hadn’t yet filled-out and the branches were more prominent. I love willow trees. I’d never really noticed one at this time of year, though, when the spray of their foilage looks more like a green, whispering fountain. I risked life and limb, standing in the middle of James Street to take my photo. Back home, I cleaned the picture up, removing some overhead wires and sign posts in photoshop, making the doctored reality match the mentally edited version of my imagination.

Underwear

It had been a while since I’d purchased a new pair of underwear, so I was taken aback by the sticker price of the gaunch on display at Winners. In a logical frame of mind, and somewhat miffed, I facetiously asked a store clerk, who happened to be taking stock on the next shelf, if the underpants would make me look like the model in the picture when I stuck my hairy legs into them and pulled them up to my flabby belly. She looked at me, smirked, and said gently, “You really don’t want to know.” I cracked the same joke at the checkout. counter. The woman responded with a smile—either knowing, or conspiratorial, I couldn’t tell which—then scanned the barcode and took my money.

Windblown

Took Carlos, our reactive mongrel, for a walk along the E&N rail trail. The wind was gusting. I overcame my fear of falling limbs, and pressed on. I’ve often experienced the metaphore of ‘trees dancing in the wind,’ but this day’s gyrations were a wild medley of contemporary, contorted ballet. And, of course, the twisting, waving, weaving movements were accompanied by the sighing of these rooted beings. I couldn’t capture the motion in my mobile’s lens—at least, not as a still. So I went to Adobe Stock Images, and downloaded a line drawing that made my case. In the circle, we debated the spiritual presence of trees, and by extension, of flora in general. I don’t think of them as individuated, conscious beings; I consider them a permeating manifestation of the ‘life force,’ which drives and connects all of nature—by acknowledging and honouring them, I am recognizing my own place in the universe. Later I attempted to represent that point of view in a composite image, thus proving some things simply cannot be captured directly by words or art…