Image by Dimitris Vetsikas from Pixabay
The winter maelstrom
wears cliffs down to shale and sand -
an ocean hourglass.
This is the second post in the final week in my month long challenge to write a haiku on hive every day. So far the themes have covered everything from ancient wisdom in week one, inspiration in week two and the wonder of travel in week three, but for this final week I've brought it back full circle to traditional haiku focusing on the theme of nature.
Traditional Japanese Haiku are always a contemplative reflection on nature. They should contain one or two images that inspire clarity of thought, often trying to capture the essence of a particular season. In my first four haiku this week I am going to follow this tradition, with yesterday's poem reflecting the balmy joy of summer zephyr, and today's the more somber destructive forces of winter.
The haiku in this post attempts to capture what Japanese Haiku masters call Kigo (季語):
an explicit or implicit reference to a season, that defines the time of the year in which the haiku is composed.
Along with Mono no aware (物の哀れ):
empathy with nature and human life; the "feeling of things", nostalgia, regret for the passing of time, understanding of the changeability and of the transience without suffering..
I have decided to challenge myself for a month to post a daily Haiku on Hive. Each week will have a different theme based on a picture prompt.
This week's broad theme is Reflection on Nature.
To read more about the aesthetics of true haiku, and the difference between haiku and senryu, please check out my post: Haiku Vs Senryu - The Aesthetics of Form
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