Walk Inspired Spring Haikus

 Winter's fierce exhale,

sunshine's warmth and light

Battle of change continues

Patterns of grace

amongst decomposing life

Little lights of hope

Iced hardness melted

Flowing freely once again

Choosing path to take

Surprise! The time's now.

Purple party poppers burst

Spring celebration

Sealed hard and tight

Soaking in life-giving sustenance

Awakening is near

I just finished reading Three Simple Lines: A Writer's Pilgrimage into the Heart and Homeland of Haiku by Natalie Goldberg. Part of my learning was that haiku does not need to be written in the 5-7-5 syllable pattern that I had always learned but it can just be 3 short lines. The tricky part is that these 3 lines need to make the mind leap.

So I had haiku on my mind as I went out for a walk today. It seemed that I was on a Spring scavenger hunt during my walk as many new features of Spring caught my eye. I was inspired to try writing haikus about these lovely nature gifts. I know that I wrote 3 lines for each one- some in the 5-7-5 manner. I don't know how much of a mind leap exists in them but I hope my attention to now comes through.

 

Come Out and Enjoy the Day

"Come out and enjoy the day!"

chirps the chickadee perched on my deck rail,

head turning from side to side trying to hold me in its gaze.

"Come out and enjoy the day!"

beckons the squirrel investigating the snowless deck,

bounding over to my French doors, glancing in to invite me to join him.

"Come out and enjoy the day!"

herald the first yellow blossoms of Spring

pooling in a thatch of gold amongst the brown.

"Come out and enjoy the day!"

call the sunbeams

dancing across the screen of my laptop.

RSVP'ing to the invitations... out the door I go.

This 2nd day of Spring is definitely calling me to go outside and enjoy it. I had no inspiration to write then sitting here looking out the window it came to me. The squirrel, chickadee, flowers and sun know how wonderful this Springy day is and want to share it with this human. I thank them for the reminder to celebrate their gorgeous day. Turning the computer off and out the door I go.

On Sun, You are a Trickster

 

                                                             Sunbeams fill the room                                                             

  Drawing attention outside  

Calling us to play  

Oh sun, you are a trickster

no warmth, winter's living on

All day long I sat in a conference room with no windows. At the end of the school day, I returned to my room. It was filled with sunshine. I happily looked out the window at the blue sky and brightness and felt a desire to be outside. The day had the mirage of Spring about it. I had a bounce in my step walking down the hallway thinking of a walk on a beautiful sunshiny Spring day. As I opened the door, I was blasted with the cold air of winter. There was a definite wind chill in the air. My Springy hopefulness was dashed by the cold slap of winter. Oh sun, you are definitely a trickster and fooled me. I guess I will have to settle for just the joy of your brightness and wait patiently for your warmth to fully arrive.

Poetry form: Tanka ( ancient Japanese form that has 5 lines and 31 syllables. (5 in first line, 7 in second, 5 in third, the 7 in forth and fifth)