haiku + examen, part i

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my friend molly is reviving the haiku-a-day habit that sara & i shared while we were both living in seattle six years ago.  our inspiration back then came from the haiku year in which seven (mostly famous) friends committed to writing a haiku a day for one year.  most of these were western haiku, in which there are no syllable rules, and that's the form that sara & i exchanged.  sara & i have committed to it again along with molly & some other friends, and i just broke out my old red cavallini butterfly journal from 2005 to reminisce.  

the holy spirit wears

blue & white stripes

& red rain boots

i was amazed at how three simple lines a day could carry so much meaning & memory (even if a bit vague or nonsensical to others!  this was about a little boy outside of the 45th street clinic, where i worked in seattle, wearing a soccer jersey of his team "espiritu santo" on a perfectly sunny day.  and i remember being extraordinarily happy that day.  see how those three lines recalled all of that to memory?).  

daily journaler i am not; it always feels too tedious.  i only journal when i'm angry or frustrated, to verbally process on paper in the absence of someone to actually talk to.  i do have a prayer journal, but in terms of chronicling my daily existence, haikus are where it's at!  josh keeps a record of our family's thoughts and movements, our story with God.  and that's enough for me.       

anyway, i am reviving the daily practice of haiku along with the examen (more on this in next post) this week, thanks to molly's challenge, and i invite you to join me in one or both of these exercises!  

oh, to inspire you further, here's a japanese haiku, traditional 5, 7, 5 syllable structure, that my brother jeff wrote years ago:

the moon hangs like a

ratty clipped-off fingernail

seeking a waste bin

(i apparently thought his haiku was so awesome i committed it to memory, and i still have it, ten years later)

* picture: michael stipe, one of the 7 friends in "the haiku year"