blank
I sometimes have an idea I want to write a haiku about but find myself sitting blankly, trying to come up with the right words and often failing. Is this normal? - Lise
Hi Lise
One way a haiku comes to me is it comes out of the blue.
Some haiku folks say that this is the only way to do haiku. (There are other folks that allow for other ways.)
Daily. I go outdoors (to come to my senses), hunting the wild haiku, here in England, in the open countryside and hills - whatever the weather.
After a while it happens that my mind becomes free of its everyday concerns and empties into the walking and the natural history and the landscape. I know this emptying will happen, now, and try not to get in the way of that process. In fact, I help it along by gently letting go.
This is meditation in motion, really. We all do it, more or less. Once the emptiness comes - things appear to slow down. It's in this slowness we start to notice overlooked details. This is where the 'haiku moments' abide.
You can ask yourself: "What's happening here and why?" The moment you ask you will get an answer - out of thin air. Every time. This answer could be a haiku. Write it down or remember it. Keep it simple, short and sweet - just as it comes, as it were you talk to a child . . .
boxes of coloured wind
tumble with the leaves—
down a road to nowhere
jp
As time goes by this active form of meditation can be done sitting at a desk. Some say this is not the method to do haiku. We have memories, though. Memories we sketched along the way. Like an artist in their studio, turns a drawing into a painting or sculpture.
More radical haiku fans are even saying that dreams are their own nature and why not go walking into other worlds?
Autumn breeze is blowing
I feel like that a long-nosed goblin
weeps or laughs
Shiki
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A few ideas about 'blank' and what can be done about it.
jp