"In the beginning there was oneness amongst all creation. This gave way to manyness. But now manyness has almost reached its zenith, and it is time to return now to oneness, but a oneness with consciousness, whereas before there was no consciousness or awareness." *
Again and again, I find myself relating to nature by both outdoor observation and through haiku, often musing on a few poems in my haiku books.
I am touched by this form of poetry, not only as a woman, but as the child I remember being—finding four-leafed clovers in warm grass, getting my arms pricked picking raspberries, or lying on a hay bale in a near-empty barn loft, listening. I see these years as those when nature became my reliable friend. It still is.
I wrote this recent haiku in response to a watercolor painted by my grandson when he was younger.
Warm sun
even the frog on a rock
has noticed
I read Bashō's* words about haiku.
In writing do not let a hair's breadth separate your self from the
subject. Speak your mind directly; go to it without wandering thoughts.*
In my grandson's painting, I see sun, water, and rocks—I am drawn to their simplicity. I can feel spring. At heart though, it is the frog that holds my attention. Frogs have held special meanings for me at other times too. Once, after days of rain, when field grasses were laid down and sunken Vs appeared in dirt lanes, I put my foot into a farmer-style rubber boot…then quickly pulled it out. Tipping the boot, a frog plopped out—surprising me. I smiled; it hopped off the porch. During my hour-long walks by the pond at a nearby conservation area, I'd hear frogs' throaty voices thick in the air in Spring. Adjusting my movements to their rhythms, I continued walking with them, now as my companions.
My realization is, "When the past joins the present in related experiences, we can be aware of our growth—as in reflection, change is seen."
* Meher Baba, April 20, 1933, Kashmir. trustmeher.org/meher-baba-messages/creation and in Ivy O. Duce, How a Master Works, 1st ed. (San Francisco, CA: Sufism Reoriented, Inc. 1975), 451-454.
* Matsuo Basho (1644-1694) is considered to be one of the four great masters of Japanese haiku. Basho’s haiku, written in Japanese in 1686, is one of the most well-known poems in Japan.
old pond . . .
a frog leaps in
water's sound
* William J. Higginson and Penny Harter, The Haiku Handbook: How to Write, Share, and Teach Haiku (New York: Kodansha International, 1989), 10.
* Ibid. 9.