Our new-to-us Garden faces west, so that the sun rising in the east illumines the space beyond the shade of the two extension peaks. I’m sure that there must be a quiet Haiku to develop, as a kind of textual representation of the early morning scene before me.

Oddly enough, I was writing haiku earnestly all through the day yesterday, and this morning I awakened to discover that the 17th of April is, in fact, International Haiku Day. Although I tend rather more to the verbose, I’m learning to appreciate the discipline involved in creating the atmosphere of a momentary thought, within a mere seventeen syllables. Our writing group has been assigned the task of considering the challenge(s) of one or another competitions currently running, of which one is promoted by the Poetry on the Lake group: haiku.

Although the initial entry fee covers five haiku, I extended my range to six, during my efforts. The poems all rolled out quickly enough, but the finessing took the rest of the day. I can hardly wait to share these haiku with the rest of our group, but I must hold my eagerness back for at least a week, in anticipation of our follow-on session. I wonder, for today, if I can manage a seventh, just for joy, just to try to recapitulate our garden spread out before us.

Morning
Over the twin peaks
the sun, bright, dazzles the birds --
spring joy in their song.

That should do it, I think, for this morning’s effort.