A haiku is a short Japanese poem where nature links to human nature. It captures a moment and usually consists of 17 jion (Japanese symbol-sounds) arranged in a 5-7-5 pattern.
Rather than saying how a scene makes one feel, the poem reveals details that caused the feeling.
Rather than saying how a scene makes one feel, the poem reveals details that caused the feeling.
In the simplicity of daily life, a falling leaf or opening petals, haiku shows us how to see into nature's life. Then we can gain a glimpse of enlightenment.
Like all Japanese arts that connect with the spirit of Zen, haiku invokes sabi, solitude, aloneness or detachment, and wabi, the spirit of austere and serene beauty.
A season always reveals the message.
On a leafless branch
A crow's settling
autumn nightfall
- Basho
Thinking in the rhythm of Haiku provides exercise for the mind. If you combine this concept with a walk in a natural setting, you will have a Walk-u. Study the Haiku form before you go, take a few with you. You do not have to follow it exactly in your three lines. Keep your senses open.
Take a walk for 30 minutes. Stop occasionally and write three lines. Look up and around and write three lines. Notice connections. See how many series of three line observations you can write in the time limit.
Celebrate autumn with haiku.
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