Nancy Christine Edwards
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Blue Himalayan Poppies
Van Dusen Gardens, Vancouver, B.C.
Nature Reminds Us of the Strengths and Joys of Diversity

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.   
Picture

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
lUSH FOREST BACKDROPS BECKON
AGAINST BURNT CHARRED LAND
ASPIRATIONS FOR PLANTING


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​dry season artistry
Harmattan windstorms bear down
Copper-toned paintfests
Nature’s graffiti etchings

Ground Traffic
slashed and burning undergrowth
ground traffic exposed
snakes make slithering escapes

ash crops
Palm rows displace fertile land
prolific cash crops
threaten subsistence living
fOOD COMPETITION
TOP-HEAVY UPLAND RICK STALKS
HARVEST TIME SIGNALED
BIRD-SCARING SECURES LIFE GRAINS
CELEBRATION
​sHAKE-SHAKE RHYTHMS FILL NIGHT AIR
cONGA LINE SHUFFLES
STEADY PULSE OF DANCE AND SONG




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    • Haiku
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