Blog, Haiku, News, Tulips for Breakfast

World Parkinson’s Month

April is World #parkinson ’s Month! A month to increase awareness about this complex neurological disease, and support those impacted by it.

While scientists race to find a cure, there is a lot that can be done to help with quality of life.

Take a look at Parkinson’s Europe, the section on Self-help and Living Well:

https://parkinsonseurope.org/…/self-help-and-living-well/

The Davis Phinney Foundation is a good resource to explore: https://davisphinneyfoundation.org/resources/

The podcast series Two Parkies in a Pod offers advice and tips on how to cope with chronic illness, and the specific challenges of Parkinson’s: https://www.2parkiesinapod.com/

The Haiku Foundation year-long (2024-2025) series ‘Haiku for Parkinson’s’ features #haiku as a tool that may help calm, reframe problem(s), and generally improve the quality of life for those living with disease and the psychosocial entanglements it involves:

See, e.g., ‘My Dyskinesia’: https://thehaikufoundation.org/haiku-for-parkinsons-my…/

Interview of ‘Tim Roberts living with PD’: https://thehaikufoundation.org/haiku-for-parkinsons…/

‘From Haiku for Parkinson’s to Haiku for Healing’: https://thehaikufoundation.org/haiku-for-parkinsons-from…/

‘Through the Lens of Positive Psychology’: https://thehaikufoundation.org/haiku-for-parkinsons…/

And a song by Birdie Belgium, tribute to her mother who lives with Parkinson’s Disease: https://www.google.com/search?q=birdie%20belgium%20song…

https://parkinsonseurope.org/2025/04/07/birdie-belgium-releases-new-song-for-parkinsons/

What do I find helpful in my own journey of the disease? My family and friends; the ‘Betreutes Laufen‘ walking for Parkinson’s group in Augsburg, the Ping Pong Parkinson (PPP) group in Augsburg and the dedicated PPP Course in Koenigsbrunn (see also the nationwide PPP Association https://www.pingpongparkinson.de/); being part of the international online community, writing and reading haiku; felting, gardening…

wildflowers
the lightness of hope
and renewal

Blog, Haiku, Haiku for Parkinson's

The Clock and Rooster

What would you do if you knew this was the last night of the world? In Ray Bradbury’s short story and the recent Chamber opera inspired by it, couples, who have all dreamt the same dream about the world’s end, struggle with this question. Displaying doubt, disbelief and denial, as well as acceptance of their forthcoming demise, they argue, fight, hug, open their most expensive bottle of wine. The mundane response when facing the extraordinary. After all, the end of the world doesn’t sound as alarming as the Apocalypse!

And yet and yet. What would you do? What would I do? It is time to explore what our answer might be. Even more so than in 1951 when the short story was published, even when certain diseases propel some of us to an accelerated end. Seconds away from disaster, according to the Doomsday Clock, with wars erupting in ever more places and wildfires scorching dearly held assumptions, it comes to this: there is no time to lose.

dreaming…
sweat rolls down
midnight

*

Haibun responding to “The Last Night of the World”, a Chamber opera by Agustí Charles inspired by Ray Bradbury’s short story of the same title. The State Theater of Augsburg commissioned it, and it premiered on 24.1.2025 at the Brechtbühne im Gaswerk. I saw it a few days later.

Blog, Haiku

the boats I missed

the boats I missed…
lucky bamboo

Photo taken during my visit to
tim – Staatliches Textil- und Industriemuseum Augsburg (State Textile and Industry Museum Augsburg).

“In the exhibition LIMINAL SPACES, tim is showing works by Dorothée Aschoff (*1965)… In her works, Aschoff explores the existential conditions of being human. What does it mean to set out, to set off or even to have to flee? What boundaries stand in the way? And which landscapes – whether stormy seas or rugged mountains – must be overcome?”

See also here

Blog, Tulips for Breakfast

Living well with Parkinson’s

In this special video episode by Two Parkies in a Pod, Dave and Kuhan chat to the world-leading Parkinson’s expert, Bas Bloem, about living well with the condition. Informative and fun!

If you ever had any doubts about the value of exercise for Parkinson’s, you must watch this episode. Bas Bloem points out that the only treatment proven to help with symptom reduction and delay the progression of this disease is exercise, not drugs! This prompts Kuhan to ask: If you don’t miss a dose of your drugs, why would you miss a dose of exercise?

Recommended dose? Daily, the more, the better…

Blog, Haiku, Haiku for Parkinson's

Creeping sepia

creeping sepia
even my iPhone stopped 
recognizing me

Creeping sepia: is a relatively new kigo. Alan Summers, winner of the first modern kigo contest, writes:

“A combination of the transition into Autumn (Fall) as Summer fades, and a mixture of climate change effects bringing out an urge for a nostalgia of historically fixed and clearly defined seasonal shifts of the past. This might also include childhood/family photographs that might have been in colour but now have a creeping sepia effect.”

:

Blog, Haibun, Haiku, News, Tulips for Breakfast

Contemporary Haibun Online’s Featured Writer

I am greatly honored to be the Contemporary Haibun Online’s Featured Writer for August 2024. My heartfelt thanks to editor Rich Youmans and his team.

Dear Readers and Friends, I hope that you will find the time to read my ‘personal’ reflections on haibun.

Featured Writer: Stella Pierides

And while visiting, you will see that Issue 20.2 is packed with wonderful work by exceptional writers. A writers’ and readers’ treasure trove!

Literature, Art, and Life through the Lens of Haiku

Stella Pierides

Literature, Art, and Life through the Lens of Haiku

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