The Way of Haiku
Haiku is the art of clear attention to the ever brimming present. In living the Way of Haiku my practice is to become one with Nature, interpenetrating with the flow of each moment as it unfolds. Each poem is written from personal experience. Through deep solitude, open silence, love of the suchness of things, and simplicity in daily living, the poet listens for the voice of the Eternal Present. Here are a few forays into this illusive art of reflecting the moment without being seen.
Birds of Whidbey Island
Dawn. . .
calling out to each other
through pale forest light. . .
Great Horned Owls.
Morning sunlight. . .
each color of the rainbow sparkling
the crystal snow.
Red tail hawk soars to stillness
in the wind. . .
every feather quivering.
Wind whirling a towering fir,
swirls up through green boughs
into endless blue.
Reflected through the window. . .
eagle circling
in the dog’s water dish.
That birdling, struggling for seeds,
finds it much easier
upside down.
On the ferry. . .
gulls riding wind
under clouds
sliding the other way.
Flashing sunset light
under darkened storm clouds. . .
wheeling
white tailed eagle.
Falling through moonlight,
the white snow silences everything. . .
even the owl.
***
Whidbey Island Marsh
Tern butterflys above the marsh pond. . .
then dives
into his own reflection.
In the spring marsh
a thousand frogs are singing
under the silent moon.
Nearly midnight. . .
for a moment
every frog in the marsh
stops chanting.
Lightening cracks the night’s darkness. . .
suddenly, summer rain
falling through thunder.
That heavy thunder
rumbling through the clouds
is rumbling through me as well.
Deep summer night. . .
a lone forest owl hooting out
into darkness. . .
All night long,
the chanting frogs. . .
now at dawn,
the chirpling birds.
***