Tidal Garden - Heavenly Haiku
This haiku is inspired by my love of nature, and particularly my passion for scuba diving. I have been lucky enough to scuba dive in many locations around the world, including in Thailand, Malta, Egypt, Wales, Mexico and Belize.
Floating weightless beneath the sea, observing the marine life is an intensely spiritual experience for me. Whether seeking seals among the emerald fronds of kelp near to Lindisfarne in the UK, or drifting on a gentle current through the psychedelic wonder of the reef; these environments seem to reconnect me with something deep. I find it completely impossible not to lose myself in the majesty of the abundant animal life and the swaying tendrils of coral whips. Scuba diving is truly a way to escape from the human noise of the modern day world.
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 beneath the picture. If you have enjoyed this Haiku, please check out my other work on my homepage @raj808.
That is lovely, @raj808. It makes me want to go snorkeling one where tropical. (I’m scared to death of diving, but I do love to snorkel!)
Hi Jayna :)
Glad you enjoyed the little trip beneath the sea in haiku form lol
I completely get where you're coming from with the snorkeling. when I can't scuba dive in the tropics, snorkeling and duck diving comes a close second :)
Beautiful photo! Wow!
I've been thinking a lot about haiku since I started with Mizu No Oto contest. It seems to me one trick is to see the simplest aspects of things, so simple they are difficult to see at all. Your haiku gives the elements of color, water and hunger as natural and right. Nice job!
Spot on owasco. That's the mastery of haiku for sure. Lol, it's also why people who don't write haiku see them and say things like 'thats easy, I could do that'... because great haiku seem simple, but it's getting that perfect moment crystallized in efficient yet transcendental imagery that's far from easy.
Thanks for checking out my poem :)