Haiku ! Haiku!

I have many memories of the outdoors as a child, continuing on into adulthood.  My parents took my Sister and me hiking many times--even from the times when I was a baby in my mother's hiking back-pack.  Memories from the coast are especially strong.  Also, I went to a summer camp that was all about "adventure" near the Columbia River Gorge.  Times of playing in the field across the street, or the orchard/blackberry patch that was at the end of our "dead-end" street. It was an adventure to "plow" through the blackberry bushes (usually using a board to flatten the bushes in front of us when there wasn't already a trail).
This is a photo I took in the town my Mom lives in.

The author Frederick Buechner's reader "Listening to Your Life," has an entry on "art." Art of any kind is, he says, set in contrast to its background or setting.  It can be something unexpected and refreshing, something that stands out from what immediately surrounds it.  In light of that I have written a few haiku's which represent new ways of looking at things--sometimes ordinary objects, often nature, and the innocence of being a child.

These poems are word-pictures.  Wherever you are, you can take a creative look at your surroundings, whether it be familiar household objects or memories that stand out in your life.

Haikus

Abby Our Dog

We choose between dogs;

First-grader’s new companion . . .

We choose the gentlest.

Family Tradition

Long trip this summer. . .

Our favorite people: cousins.

We dream the way home.

Not Without my Shepherd

Grew up with longing,

Was far from reality.

Growth comes step-by-step. . . .

Nature’s Changes

Lady bugs rule now—

Into the big leafy world.

I watch them escape.

Experiencing a Moment

In a farm-filled town

I get lost in the bridges . . .

. . . so lonely  tonight.

Untitled

After a warm day,

I hear the geese squawking by . . .

Oh, complexity!

Part of Growing Up

Had a large backyard.

Plenty of mowing keeps trim.

Springer runs about. . . .

Tick for Tat

To remind us all,

Of time’s onward progression;

I dusted that clock. :)

A Lamp and Me

A lamp gives out light;

Shade was broken in pieces . . .

But I want to shine.