HAIKU WRITING: TO BE PRESENT TO THIS MOMENT

An invitation to write Haiku poetry with a contemplative gaze and no hurry

FORT LAUDERDALE, FL.- In these days of confinement and pandemia, we might as well try poetry. I invite everyone to try compose a haiku or two. Writing a haiku is an activity that can help and uplift us in these times of uncertainty.

A haiku is a three-line poem with a syllable pattern of five, seven, five. Traditionally from Japan, it has only three lines and a total of 17 syllables. Punctuation and capitalization are up to the poet, and need not follow the rigid rules used in structuring sentences.

Macrina Wiederhehr,  is an author and spiritual guide, a master of everyday spirituality in the Benedictine tradition. In her book Gold in your memories she offers sacred moments, glimpses of God. She believes  that  sacred texts are all around us. As a skilled and creative devotional writer, Wiederkehr uses images or personal anecdotes that are brimming with beauty and insight.  Her blog combines beautiful images with provocative insights. And she shares her own list of favorite reading.

She describes  a Haikus as a way to access those things of beauty hidden in us, a way of putting a frame around an experience, a way to immortalize a moment in time, a way of painting a picture with only a few words.

What seems to me helpful is to be present to the experience of that moment with a contemplative gaze, no hurry, no judgment. That moment, delightful or painful, has been part of my life, and the Divine Artist is near to show you its meaning.  Here I offer  two  examples below. Happy writing! (Dolores Gracián)

 English (Macrina Wiederhehr)

A tiny leaf
Offers a silent sermon
From a barren branch

SPANISH (Dolores Gracián)
Sabor de hogar
En la ventana estás
El sol se para

POVEDA-IT