unseen details fascinate

enlarger of worlds

I can’t remember when I first looked through a magnifying glass, but I must’ve been very young. It seems like always. Later I got my first of two microscopes, the first being more toylike, yet functional. I got the second as a young teenager, and it had three magnification settings. With that one, I could even find the microscopic critters in puddle water, so that was exciting.

I was always asking a parent to help me do something “sciency.”

It’s interesting, looking back, that I never really thought about a career in one of the sciences. No, I take that back… I went through a period when I wanted to be an archaeologist, but that shifted to art and music as my education developed.

What haiku can we think about today? Childhood curiosity, maybe? Give it a try and share your thoughts in a comment. Or tell a story from your childhood, if you think of one.

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This is from Wikipedia:

Wendell Erdman Berry (August 5, 1934 – August 31, 2026) was an American novelist, poet, essayist, environmental activist, cultural critic and farmer. Closely identified with rural Kentucky, Berry developed many of his agrarian themes in the early essays of The Gift of Good Land (1981) and The Unsettling of America (1977). His attention to the culture and economy of rural communities is also found in the novels and stories of Port William, such as A Place on Earth (1967), Jayber Crow (2000), and That Distant Land (2004).

Berry was an elected member of the Fellowship of Southern Writers, a recipient of the National Humanities Medal and the Jefferson Lecturer for 2012. He was also a 2013 Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and, from 2014 to his death, a member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters. Berry was named the recipient of the 2013 Richard C. Holbrooke Distinguished Achievement Award. On January 28, 2015, he became the first living writer to be inducted into the Kentucky Writers Hall of Fame.

What the Tributes Said

I asked AI to search tributes to give me an idea of the most common comments. Here’s what it found:

Tributes honoring Wendell Berry’s life and legacy have converged around his roles as an uncompromising moral conscience, a prolific literary giant, and a revolutionary advocate for agrarian living and environmental balance. Commentators and peers have widely praised his personal humility, his immense generosity, and his deeply rooted reverence for the land and people of Henry County, Kentucky.

Finally, here’s what the Associated Press has published:

Associated Press about Wendell Berry

Do you have any thoughts to share about Wendell Berry? What did you glean from reading any of his work? Share in a comment.

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gothic fog enshrouds the way

useless the lantern

As spooky as you think.

I’ve been camping with friends, and we could always “work up a good scared” in the dark, if we wanted to. Have you experienced that? Yeah, it’s when there’s absolutely nothing to be worried about, and yet…

Write a haiku about fear. The more irrational the fear, the better. —grin— Share in the comments. Tell a good story, if you’d like. There’s nothing out there. Really.

BWA-HA-ha haaaaaaaa.

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From what voyages returned?

Tell, world travelers!

I’ve always loved stamps (coins, too). I have never been a collector of expensive stamps, but some really old ones are cheap simply because so many were made. Little scraps of paper from distant places beyond my imagination, as a kid. Now, of course, one can travel to any place with the click of a mouse. That doesn’t squash my fascination, though. What stories can you tell that involve the love of stamps?

Write a stamp or postage or letter haiku. Share it in a comment.

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a tree becomes a log, when?

truly, fallen grace

Write a tree or log haiku. Or maybe even a logging haiku? Share in a comment.

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a bundle wrapped together

by passion’s ribbon

This haiku was inspired by a quote I came across:

To have any meaning at all, philosophy must sizzle with passion, boil your brain, fry your eyeballs, or you’re just not doing it right. And that applies to the other end of the spectrum of feelings as well. Real philosophy is as gentle as fog and as quiet as tears; it holds the world as if it were a delicate infant, raw and open and vulnerable. --Ken Wilber in the foreword to Frank Visser’s book “Ken Wilber: Thought as Passion”

Write a haiku about the mind/heart connection. Share in a comment!

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deadly, yet mesmerizing

best at a distance

I always love watching lightning, if I get the chance. There are places close to me where you can see a long way, and so approaching storms can put on quite a show.

One time I was in a small dome tent in the Four Corners area of the U. S. when a summer storm ripped through (the area, not the tent, fortunately). The tent would have surely blown away had I not been inside. The dome supports were bending into the interior with the wind’s force.

It was loud, too. The best I could do was to shout “Yahooooooo!!” into the thunder and hold tight. The storm raged for only about 15 minutes, but it certainly felt longer. It moved through quickly and went on to douse whatever was in its path. It makes for a good memory, since nothing bad happened.

Write a haiku about lightning or storms, or tell a story. Leave it as a comment.

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don’t say beauty’s not common

see, perched in the green

I came across this striking image while flitting through various photos. Google told me that it’s a Common Five-Ring, native to Asia.

It’s amazing how certain branches of study have terminology specific to their areas. Here’s the technical description that I found on the web:

Male: Upperside brown, both forewing and hindwing with terminal margins much darker, and generally with more or less distinct subbasal and discal dark bands. Forewing with a large, slightly oblique, oval, bi-pupilled, yellow-ringed black, pre-apical ocellus. Hindwing with two postdiscal, round, uni-pupilled, similar but smaller ocelli, and very often one or two minute tornal ocelli also.

Wow.

But hey, now you’ve learned that you can say to someone, “Look at that ocellus on that butterfly!” (It’s an eye-spot) Or, “Those ocelli are beautiful, aren’t they?”

You’re welcome.

Write a butterfly haiku. Extra applause if you use the word “ocellus” or “ocelli.”

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For a moment, the world stops.

Hello, my shy friend.

This is from a little over a year ago. Her gaze is rather mesmerizing, don’t you think?

Write a haiku about a forest creature or tell a story about a personal encounter.

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By the way, I accidentally left off the photo in my previous “Paints” post. It’s there now. And here:

These paints belong to . Check out her Substack, too!

hints of rosemary, onion

yes, green has a scent

I can smell it, can you? When you see the mowers on the roadside, slow down and lower your window. Then you will join the ranks of those of us who know what green smells like.

Write a haiku about smelling a color. Share it in the comments.

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a time to breathe and reflect

and return renewed

Yes, I took a little break, but have now returned. I didn’t really GO anywhere, just had some different things to do, take care of, line up, hand out, etc. Thanks for sticking around! I wish you wellness and break of your own, if you can.

Write your own haiku about taking a break and share it in the comments!

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six hundred thousand and more

in red party masks

The video is only 6 minutes long… check it out!

Write a bird haiku and share it in a comment. Extra points if it’s about sandhill cranes.

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secluded behind sleep’s veil

resources refilled

William Butler Yeats: When you are old and gray and full of sleep, and nodding by the fire, take down this book and slowly read, and dream of the soft look your eyes had once, and of their shadows deep.

Write a haiku about sleep. And, of course, share your creation in a comment.

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First draft:

just falling water

gravity lends it beauty

prism multitude

Analysis: It’s not bad. The first idea I had was about the simplicity of falling water becoming beautiful. I dropped that for the more picturesque “cascading.”

Second draft:

cascading water

gravity lends it beauty

prism multitude

Analysis: OK, what else would help? If I left it alone, no one would care. But after pondering, I liked the alliteration added to line 2.

Third draft:

cascading water

gravity gives it beauty

prism multitude

Analysis: Then I reviewed line 3 and tested a few words. I liked “prism multitude,” but decided to use the word “rainbow” instead. A matter of taste, that’s all.

Fourth draft:

cascading water

gravity gives it beauty

rainbow finishes

Analysis: I let it sit for a while, and when I returned to it, I thought “a rainbow finish” wrapped it up better.

Final:

cascading water

gravity gives it beauty

a rainbow finish

I don’t consider any of the above edits drastic. Some writing needs to be changed because the grammar is bad or a word is used incorrectly. In this case, everything was about what sounded better to me or made me picture something differently in my mind. Undoubtedly, you might’ve made other decisions and might think of other improvements right now! It’s all about being happy with the outcome.

Anyway, I hope reading this process will lead you to some editing of your own writing. Even the humble haiku can benefit from extra thought.

By the way, that photo is of Haifoss waterfall in Iceland. Beautiful!

Write a waterfall haiku. If you feel like it, show more than one draft so we can see your thinking process. Share in a comment.

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Next line: seven syllables

Third line: five again

I just wanted to have a bit of fun today! Try your hand at a “haiku haiku” and share in the comments. Haiku on!

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Here are four more reader haiku, all in response to Haiku #93. These are crafted by , Sara, , and . Be sure to comment on any favorite, or any distinctive turn of phrase.

Butterfly Requiem Haiku

garden fairy sprite

delicate wings of color

killed for a story

monarch butterfly

a very short, fleeting life

majestic beauty

Sara

Seconds in stillness.

Bursting yellow in late bloom.

A little gray friend

Butterfly land skin

Dust wings speak angel air

Chaos found friend hunger

Take time to make a comment about one or all of these creations. What was your favorite line? Did anything remind you of something meaningful? Share in a comment!

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scented spiral, love’s symbol

blossom of passion

The beauty of a rose never fails to mesmerize, especially in a close-up. What’s your experience been with roses? Have you grown any? Been given any? Write a haiku about it and put it in the comments. (Or just tell it, shared stories are good.)

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swallowtail on marigold

a double blessing

              Write your own haiku inspired by this photo and share it in a comment.

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