Haibun – Thursday – April 10, 2020

Haibun – my wooden ship

On Thursday I look at the world in all its (ah-hum) glory. Its the day I usually prepare for my English Conversation class and so a day I look into news articles about politics and current events. In any period of time one needs a bit of ballast not to  flounder but now with the COVID pandemic at its height one really needs to have an inner anchor.

in my wooden ship
I sail through death and storms
– humanity

Back in the mid ’80s I was living in yet another interesting time of my life and was feeling rather tired of it all. I came across an old book “The Way of Zen” by Alan Watts. I felt I’d found a new lover, such were the power of the vision I found in this book. Don’t get me wrong, I wasn’t a converted from one religion to yet another religion. I was raised in a religious uncertain family so, in my early youth I’d experimented with many representatives of monotheism and alas preferred my familial religious chaos to monotheistic self righteous rigidity. Watts though didn’t preach he taught. How refreshing!

wild this daisy grows
no lily of the valley
that false innocent

After the maelstrom of the day, I kick back and listen to a talk by Watts … just to balance out the day.  I put on a TV show about the life in England in the 1950s , it’s entitled “Call the Midwife”, so heartening!  I feed myself and Brynn the princess cat and finally go to bed.  As an introvert, basically I have no problem with social distancing.  I admit I’d be in a much more unpleasant place if I had to live elbow to elbow with millions of people all at once!

balancing my soul
looking at simple drama
at social distance

© gsk ’20

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Now some flower facts both flowers  represent purity but:…

Daisies

Just like a lot of the other flowers in the Asteraceae flower these are easy to grow. This is a flower that a child can grow and it stands all sorts of conditions. With the vascular nature of this plant and the tap root, it basically grows so well that it can become a weed. So, even if you are a person with a brown thumb, you can grow this. These flowers will grow in dry areas they will grow in open areas too. They are easily pollinated because bugs love them and spread the pollen throughout, so you will see fields of daisies in some of the places that are out there. This is a great beginner flower to start growing.

Lily of the Valley

Even though the Lily of the Valley prefers cooler temperatures, it will grow in warmer as well. If you plan on having Lily of the Valley in your yard or garden, there are two things you need to be careful about. One is the poisonous nature of the plant, for humans and pets. The other is the way the flower reproduces may make it difficult to get rid of it once it has established itself. Since its root system creeps underground, you may have to really work on eliminating it. However, if your plans are to have them around to make your yard just beautiful, then you will have no problem because they will multiply on their own. Find out about how the Lilies of the Valley like to live, whether they want lots of water or just a little, what type of soil is best for them, how much sunshine they need during the day, then you are set with growing beautiful Lily of the Valley flowers.

Shashin no uta – 写真 の 歌 – Photographic Song

(This was a page from the top of my blog which I think no one has ever read.  So I thought I’d turn it into a post.)

I wrote a  Shashin no Uta back in September of 2014 thanks to an idea on a blog called Ronovan Writes: Wordless Haiku … later thanks to a blogger I once knew Jen Rosenberry the Wordless Haiku became  Photoku.  After a while she took over the prompts for the “photoku” finally deciding to discontinue for lack of time … but she did suggest to me this lovely name in Japanese: Shashin no Uta   写真 の 歌 – Photographic song.

What I’m posting are photoku  in the order of when they were published.

I wanted to see how the genre evolved from chaotic collage I was trying to work with as though it were a rebus – so practically a picture for a word then I decided to work towards pictures for each phrase until at last I worked out that the best way, for me of course, was to use one photo for each line … and then the photoku really  began to become a “photographic song” indeed (it’s interesting to note that I actually did a full circle …my first “photoku” indeed were composed of just three photos … one for each phrase in a haiku!).

A Stink Bug – September 15, 2014

autumn vineyards
among wild Passiflora
a stink bug

(c) G.s.k. ’14

Autumn Reflections – September 21, 2014

new harvest
warm dreamy reflections
– new snow

(c) G.s.k. ’14

Indian Summer Walk – September 28, 2014

Indian summer
under ancient shadows
– bees

G.s.k. ’14

Roses Bloom – October 5, 2014

last blooms
near the ancient house
old cat

G.s.k. ’14

Time – October 12, 2014

fallow times
darkness deepens
poverty’s harvest

G.s.k. ’14

Childhood Memories – October 19, 2014

persimmons
leaves and wild flowers
childhood memories

G.s.k. ’14

The Tournement – October 26, 2014

the tournament
red feathered knight
ballads sung
celebrating
memories of war

G.s.k. ’14

She Dreams – November 2, 2014

harvest memories
sticky candied fruit
shadows of childhood

G.s.k. ’14

The “Mille Miglia” – November 8, 2014

bridging history
the thousand mile auto race
hitchhiker’s dream

G.s.k. ’14

Bottles and lights – November 16, 2014

reflections
cosmic red lightening
abstract – blue bottles

G.s.k. ’14

Cold Wave  – November 23, 2014

last dead leaves
cold waves on Lake Garda
ah – snow comes

G.s.k. ’14

Sunshine Exodus – November 30, 2014

frosty days
late migration
snowbirds fly south

G.s.k. 14

 

Mountain Cabin –  December 14, 2014

mountain cabin
ice-fog at dawn
frosted trees

G.s.k. ‘14

VARIATION

moon in heavens
over the baita*
frosty morning

*cabin in Italian

© G.s.k. ‘14

Christmas Snow – December 21, 2014

Christmas
decorated trees
– light

G.s.k. ’14

Smiling in the Clouds  – January 4, 2014

clouds and rain
moon smiles brightly
a soaring bird

G.s.k. ‘15

dreams sailing free – January 18, 2015

embers of sunset
bridging the world
sailing free

G.s.k. ‘15

Variation

Ripples and Change – January 21, 2015

crack of dawn
ripples through infinity
times change

G.s.k. ‘15

Shadows and Patterns – January 25, 2015

shivering  patterns
shadows in darkened masks
a sinking leaf

near the cobbled path
patterns making dark omens
leaf shivering sinks

G.s.k. ‘15

Autumn Morning – January 29, 2015

observe
lantern on the post
old gull
G.s.k. ’15

Withered Moon – February 1, 2015

withered moon
morning dawns
ah – fishermen and ducks

© G.s.k. ‘15

A Dead Leaf On Stone – February 11, 2015

light lit snow
what peace
the way

G.s.k. ’15

Morning Haiku and Waka – July 16, 2016

passing reflection
as the sun rises at dawn
a last adieu

© Gsk ’16

Morning Haiku and Waka – July 15, 2016

media-cache – found on Facebook

into the sunset
another day tumbles
towards darkness

crashing hopes
deafening the lover
gulls screech overhead –
sitting on the boardwalk
the child watches the sun set

© Gsk ’16

Carpe Diem Special – Mandarin Duck by Buson – July 14

For today’s Carpe Diem Special a haiku by Yosa Buson:

mandarin duck –
rain falls silently
from an oak

© Yosa Buson (1716-1783)

Mallards on Lake Mattis – Champagne, Illinois

mallard ducks –
splashing water drops
in the grass

Gsk ’16

In the Park – Heeding Haiku With Chèvrefeuille – July 13, 2016

ducks mating in spring
in this American park
just like being home

© Gsk ’16

Morning Haiku and Waka – July 13, 2016

Woman in a poppy field by Leon Giran Max

an empty field
where once the willow stood
poppies dance

© Gsk ’16

Thoughts on Emptiness- Haibun – July 5, 2016

I’ve been back home in Italy for a couple of weeks now and oddly enough I haven’t done much in the way of writing.  I’ve thousands of photos, lots of memories and ideas but oddly enough not much energy.  Could it be jet lag?  Could it be nostalgia?

This has been a period when many of my friends too have been having problems.  Some have had marriage break-ups, others have lost a parent or close relative, the children have grown and left home – financial problems are beginning to erode their serenity – they’ve gone into retirement or their retirement has been blocked – and I’m a listener, their listener.

One of my friends broke-up with her husband and then her Mom died just a couple of weeks before my Mom. She wanted the break-up and found her own apartment and works hard at her job to build her career – but that hasn’t saved her from melancholia.  The void of change, even change actively sought after, is disorientating.

So there it is. The void.  Wholes rent in ones life once filled with another person or situation. A father, husband, wife, child, job, project suddenly gone and with them, all the fantasies, illusions, expectations and familiarity of a rapport – of the status quo. It’s odd sometimes that emptiness would seem to be so welcome, like after a long stressful illness or an abusive rapport, but when the moment comes, one risks being sucked into the emptiness. That’s when it begins to seem easier to put things off, maybe go take a nap, read a book or drown in the TV or a video game.  Some people drown in drink or drugs, like another friend of mine.  The common denominator among all my friends is emptiness.  And if they happen to decide to go to a health worker, they may be diagnosed with depression and they’ll probably be prescribed a pill or two to get through the day.  So then they drift with pills when what they really wanted was something that would help them overcome the emptiness.

So I return to the first paragraph I wrote here as I realize that my problem right now is that void caused by all the repentine changes in the last nine months of my life.  They’ve been a roller-coaster ride in a way.  I’ve made many changes and haven’t made many others that I really would have liked to have made – it seems that my life is living me instead of me living my life.  I do know what the problem is but I don’t know where to find the energy to move on, especially as I don’t dwell on my problems consciously – perhaps that is what I have to do.

Zen has often been an aid to me throughout my life but I’ve given no thought to Zen in the past few months, except as an abstract idea.  What I have around me now is the roaring sound of one hand clapping … and I’m mistaking the moon in the puddle for the real moon. Where is the emptiness and more importantly where is the fullness – the reality and the illusion?

In Zazen one sits (or walks meditatively).  No books or films or distractions – one sits seeking nothing observing everything.  One listens to what is around one … thoughts are leaves blowing in the wind.

red autumn leaf
water splashes – a fountain
rain drops falling

© Gsk ’16

 

Birch – Haiku – July 4 2016

a courtyard a birch
change and stability
from spring to winter

© Gsk ’16

Carpe Diem 988 Birch

Silent Sunday – July 3, 2016