Something about Haikus...

Hi friends. It looks like we’ve made it to the end of another short but long…ish workweek. You know what I mean right? Honestly all of my days seem to run together now. I’ve been working from home since Mid-March, and its been a weird blur. The irony of today’s post is that it will be one of the longest I've written, yet it deals with one of the shortest styles of poetry; the humble haiku. (How’s that for some alliteration?!) Anyway, a haiku is a Japanese poem that only contains 3 lines and 17 syllables. The first and third lines contain 5 syllables each, and the middle line has seven syllables. Typically these poems use nature as an influence, but it doesn’t necessarily have to be that way to be effective. I’m the queen of keeping things short and sweet (just ask my boss when I’m leading Zoom meetings), and I've recently found myself writing my thoughts down in this style. Its so interesting how so few words can pack such a huge punch. Not to toot my own horn (too much), but I think I've gotten pretty good at these, so I wanted to share one with you, as well as the meaning behind it. Usually these poems don’t have titles, so this one doesn’t either.

Beauty from ashes

Why destruction first, always?

Makes the soil fertile

If you’re re-reading this to figure out what it means, I gotcha. I decided to use nature as my reference, and honestly, I was thinking about a scene in the Lion King where Simba defeats Scar and it starts raining. It washes all the ashes away and new plants begin to grow where the ashes were. Ashes are full of nutrients, which of course we know helps plants to grow. For me, this pandemic seems to keep spreading, sort of like a fire. It seems like it’s going to be awhile before it fully leaves us. However, I’ve come to realize that this may be a good time to cultivate other things in your life, and we can indeed have good things come out of this. So yes, it may be hot, uncomfortable, scary, or all of the above for you, and you may be wandering in the smoke screen that is this time period. But remember, a fire eventually dies out, and the nutrients left behind in the ashes can create something wonderful.

Ha. Even when I tried to be long-winded I can’t.

Love always,

CDOG