healing…
the frenzied dance
of the Maenads
healing
Tag Archives: haiku
others
others
always between us…
eclipse moon
.
stone quarry
stone quarry...
yet another form waiting
to be freed
.
April is Parkinson’s Awareness Month
Did you know that April is Parkinson’s Awareness Month?
A month to raise awareness of this disease and share information about it with the public. The aim is to highlight the urgency of finding a cure, but also matters in need of attention while waiting for a cure. To remind ourselves too, about the different experiences, approaches and treatments available to help manage the condition. What will you be doing during the month? Sign a petition? Make a pledge to exercise more?
Whatever you do, choose an activity that engages you, inspires you, makes you smile! Play table tennis! Read a haiku! Keep talking, keep thinking, keep learning!
Chinese lantern
My Dyskinesia
What is Dyskinesia? What does it feel like? How can haiku help? Reflecting on my attempts at using haiku to work through the ever-shifting challenges of Parkinson’s Disease.
“My Dyskinesia” is now part of the Haiku Foundation feature Haiku for Parkinson’s. Available to read here.
new snow…
Remember the snow? The white stuff? Well, here it is in my photo from last December included in MacQueen’s Quinterly So happy to see it in this wonderful journal together with two of my haiku. Thank you to editor Clare MacQueen!
.winter wonderland
how many snowflakes
to magic
new snow...
the sound only silence
makes
they take you
What a nice surprise! My poem in The Mainichi was included in Haiku in English the Best of 2023! Many thanks to the Mainichi Team!
Haiku for Parkinson’s Course
The Haiku Foundation is offering a new, free, email course “Introduction to Haiku” for people impacted by Parkinson’s Disease, including friends and family.
The course is being taught by Sonam Chhoki, editor of the online journal cattails. For more information about the course see here
Four senryu
Happy to see my four senryu make it to MacQueen’s Quinterly! Many thanks to the editor Clare MacQueen!
[Four Senryu]
January storm
my neighbor’s greenhouse
flying past
:::
Monday blues...
last week’s special offer
no longer special
:::
overcast day
the muted colors
of hope
:::
when the going gets tough
the feel of your hand
in mine
*
eternity
from my lungs
January floods
January floods
rattling of the bronchial tubes
all night
Haiku for Parkinson’s: Interview-Tim Roberts
The second installment of Haiku for Parkinson’s is the interview of a British poet, now living in New Zealand, Tim Roberts.
Tim describes his haiku practice and the ways it helps him with his Parkinson’s symptoms. It has not been an easy ride. He says:
I had to stop work shortly after being diagnosed. I was adrift. I didn’t have any real hobbies and lost my identity. I felt rudderless and scared. I didn’t know who I was anymore – perhaps that means I never had. I had confused who I was with what I did. Now, having developed such a rooted haiku practice, I have a solid sense of who I am and an exciting sense of purpose. I love poetry and I like to use it to connect to others. I see it as my vocation – and a part of my spiritual practice. Now, thanks to the challenges of PD, I am much more me than the person who was a leadership coach, or any of my previous personas, the university teacher and the detective.
Take a look here for Tim’s informative, inspiring, and from-the-heart account of his journey with Parkinson’s Disease.
waiting room
waiting room
the dehumidifier
set on high
A poem about one of Parkinson’s symptoms: extreme sweating! Not every person living with this disease has this symptom, but if you have it, you will understand…
In The Pan Haiku Review, issue 2
Happy to see two of my haiku appear in The Pan Haiku Review, issue 2, Winter 2023, Kigo edition, p.98. Editor: Alan Summers.
just as
the snowdrops wither
cherry blossom
snowdrops...
breaking through
this sadness
olive wood
carving a lamp
out of olive wood…
longest night
tips and tricks
tips and tricks
for shredding stiffness…
melting snow
Haiku for Parkinson’s
A new feature of The Haiku Foundation coming soon: Haiku for Parkinson’s!
Haiku for Parkinson’s is a feature of The Haiku Foundation, introducing haiku as a tool in the Parkinson’s toolbox, helping negotiate the challenges of the disease and improve quality of life. And, introducing Parkinson’s Disease (PD) to people living with haiku.
The first post will appear on Sunday 12/17/2023 and every few weeks thereafter.
lazy Sunday
lazy Sunday
waiting for the wind
to die down
Zaporizhzhia
In Frogpond 46.3, Autumn 2023
In the news
in the news the tangy taste of the nightshade
forever
life force
Fruit from
after the Fall
Secrets of a life
secrets of a life lived underground… harvest day
Chicory blooming
chicory blooming the courage to be more
Sky Ponds in CHO 19.2
Happy to see my haibun “Sky Ponds-Himmelsweicher” appear in Contemporary Haibun Online 19.2
I found out about the bomb craters in the Augsburg city forest during a walk with my Parkinson’s walking group. Marvelous recovery of a wounded landscape, and people. And apt for our own situation of struggling with progressive disease.
Sky Ponds—Himmelsweiher
The Siebentischwald, on the edge of Augsburg, acts as the lung of the city. Lush green vegetation crisscrossed by water channels and dotted by silent ponds makes this forest the life force of Augsburg. It turns out it is also the repository of an interesting piece of the city’s history: the forest floor bearing the scars of thousands of bombs that were dropped on it towards the end of World War II.
On my morning walk with my Parkinson’s group, in this peaceful, green oasis, pierced by high-pitched peacock cries from the adjacent Zoo, I come across oval ponds and other depressions filled with vegetation. I am told they are Bombenkrater, the remnants of craters formed by aerial bombing.
The proximity to the munitions manufacturer Messerschmitt meant that bombs often landed in the forest. However, the massive bombing raid in February 1944 literally dug up the forest floor, leaving numerous wounds on the landscape. In recent years, a public charity transformed some of these craters into ponds brimming with life.
cool forest shade. . .
lingering by the sky ponds
heat from the past
reflecting
reflecting on the sky's glorious depths... sweet chicory
Stella Pierides 