My haiku writing story
Being in nature inspires me to write, helps me make sense of writing quandaries, and gets me past writer’s block. My bike rides alongside the Ottawa River were perfectly timed for composing Haiku poems. Each haiku poem represents a 10 km bike ride on my favourite path. I’d set out on my bike with a mental image from life in Sierra Leone; often a critter like a gecko, termite, or snake; and sometimes a scene such as a farm, swamp, or village. The image would take shape in syllables and words that captured colours and movement and emotion. I’d jot down the poem on a scrappy piece of paper before heading home. I will be posting haiku poems over the coming year.
playful GeckoS
Geckos - opaque carnivores
Ceiling (sealing) suction lost
Plop, scurry, resume bug beat
spring burn
slashing and burning forests
fires carve farm contours
acrid ashen haze hovers
AWAITING RAIN
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dry season artistry
Harmattan windstorms bear down
Copper-toned paintfests
Nature’s graffiti etchings
Ground Traffic
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