Holding the water,
held by it—
the dark mud
William J. Higginson
————————————————
At Forest Row
Or as a boy, in Birdsedge
To dam a stream
Or to photograph a lotus pond
Play, in both aspects
Brings a smile
A sense of purpose
Whereas before
For a short while
There was absence, boredom
Senseless days, wasted days
Broken free
By our plunging of the shutter
Or our moulding of the mud
haiku mind
108 poems to
cultivate awareness
& open your heart
is by Patricia Donegan
stillness—
piercing the rocks
the sound of cicadas
Bash Matsuo
————————————————
Yes, we heard
Outside our hotel bedroom window
Among the vegetation
Beneath the dark night sky
Also under blue skies
On our way down the boardwalks
To the beach and to the sea
Where once again we could listen
Take in those sounds of joy
As well as the hub-hub
Of holidaymakers in communion
haiku mind
108 poems to
cultivate awareness
& open your heart
is by Patricia Donegan
saying nothing:
the guest, the host
the white chrysanthemum
Ryota Oshima
————————————————
I am neither guest nor host
But rather a casual observer
Passing by at first
But then standing still
Sitting still
Breathing in
Breathing out
I have no flowers with me
Except in my imagination
Except in my heart
But I say nothing about this
Not to anyone
haiku mind
108 poems to
cultivate awareness
& open your heart
is by Patricia Donegan
across a rose fence—
a cat lover
a cat hater
Kazuo Sato
————————————————
He was a partition dispute expert
Trying to bring together
Disparate, argumentative neighbours
Also he was a quantity surveyor
Trying to recover whatever costs
That I told him that we were due
A lifetime then spent by the both of us
On the Boundary, perhaps as sung by
The Duckworth Lewis Method
haiku mind
108 poems to
cultivate awareness
& open your heart
is by Patricia Donegan
The taste
of rain
—Why kneel?
Jack Kerouac
————————————————
You are right
I didn’t know
But now that I do
I am rather pleased
With the style
With the content
With the disobedience
I too tasted the rain
On dark nights
At the bus stop, under the trees
After the long downhill walk
From the cross-country railway station
I also was on a spiritual path
On my way
To see my two beautiful children
As many estranged fathers might
haiku mind
108 poems to
cultivate awareness
& open your heart
is by Patricia Donegan