Growing from Darkness to Light - Heavenly Haiku

This picture inspired strong impressions of what Japanese Haiku masters call Sabi (寂):

the sense of the inexorable passage of time, the beauty or serenity that accompanies the advance of age, when the life of the objects and its impermanence are highlighted through the verse.

Along with Yūgen (幽玄):

The sense of wonder and mystery; represented by the state of mind of the inexplicable fascination of things, the feeling of an 'other' universe that lies just beyond the vial.

Trees have always fascinated me. The thought of how they might perceive the world, if they even feel time in the way we do, and how it must feel to be born of the earth only to reach for the light. This haiku tries to create an impression of that 'other' universe mentioned in the description of Yūgen.

The simple existence of a plant in perception - growing from darkness to light.

The haiku follows the model of the Mizu No Oto - Haiku Contest, where a picture is used to prompt a haiku. In this case I have taken my prompt from the image used as a thumbnail and the memory it inspired.

The Mizu No Oto - Haiku Contest (linked above) contains a fantastic tutorial on the traditional aesthetics and technique of haiku, I recommend checking it out for a master class in that form of poetry.

In this haiku I have tried to adhere to the 2nd iteration of the toriawase stylistic model - toriawase with nibutsu shōgeki to the third ku.

To read more about the aesthetics of true haiku, and the difference between haiku and senryu, please check out my recent post

Haiku Vs Senryu - The Aesthetics of Form

The image used in this post is creative commons licence, linked to credit beneath the picture. If you have enjoyed this Haiku, please check out my other work on my homepage @raj808.