MARTI PHOTO
COMMENTARY BY: MARTI
HAIKU DISCOVERY
JAPAN HAIKu
HAIKU originated centuries ago in ancient Japan among nature lovers and spiritual wanderers. It is based on pure economy of form and generosity of spirit. In Japan, poets spend years contemplating a transitional death poem of a few lines. With a stroke of a pen and a liberated spirit, good HAIKU reaches high and deep, connects experience and conscious mind. It is the sound of a solitary flute in a vast symphony of life.
Haiku is a wonderful way to observe and learn from nature and to communicate in the moment without needing to write our life stories. Observing nature and listening to her ways can be a step in celebrating our lives and transforming any experience into something beautiful, ironic, perplexing, or challenging.
Haiku is practiced by master poets and humble beginners alike. Most haikus have a strong connection to nature.
Here are a few examples:
SAMURAI JOURNEY
Walk tall,
speak little,
bend like bamboo.
- Iya Valley, Shikoku -
° ° °
ZEN PUPIL
A plank of rough wood
waiting to be carved
into endless forest.
- Mount Hiei Japan -
° ° °
ZEN MASTER
Calm clear eyes
bend boughs,
catch rain,
a hundred moons in a hundred
drops of water.
- Sojiji Temple Yokohama -
° ° °
MATHEMATICS
Black river
plus
silver moon
equals
crystal water.
- Kyoto -
° ° °
FRACTALS
Ignore the noise of sheer existence
chase meanings,
see fractals everywhere,
dance with leaves rivers trees.
Know we are the never-ending
universe.
- Mount Fuji -