On the Road is a weekday feature spotlighting reader photo submissions.
From the exotic to the familiar, whether you’re traveling or in your own backyard, we would love to see the world through your eyes.
Munira
It has long been my habit to go for a walk in the afternoon, but in March (in a fit of self-improvement), I began taking a second walk every day, this time early in the morning before breakfast. Since it was often still dark when I went out, I didn’t go on the trails. I just walked around the perimeter of the apartment complex where I live because the parking lots are lit and I could see where I was going. It’s a big complex so the walk takes around fifteen or twenty minutes. The grounds are quite beautiful with many trees, flowers and assorted wildlife (rabbits, ducks, seagulls, various songbirds, deer and squirrels).
I had also resolved to write at least one haiku every day, and I soon discovered that the haiku frequently came to me during my walk. I took a photo of whatever had inspired me, and when I got back to my apartment, I texted the photo and the haiku to my sister and a friend. At first, I wasn’t sure how my offerings were being received until one day I was late sending my message. I got a text from my sister saying, “Haiku, photo?” It was encouraging to see that my efforts were appreciated, and I’ve tried not to be late since then.
All of the haiku and photos in this post are from my morning walk during the months of April and May. This walk has become one of the most treasured parts of my day, and it’s a pleasure to share it with you.
JPL
we bow to each other
the aging tulip
and I
I love this and it captures my current mood.
Rusty
I don’t recall us getting poetry with photos before. Thank you so much for sharing!!
Wanderer
Please keep sharing your morning walks here. Very lovely
stinger
Easy to see why your sister jumped in when you were late! How can I get on your mailing list?
KSinMA
Beautiful! Thank you!
Benw
So cool
Dorothy A. Winsor
What a wonderful thing to do. Doing something every day like that is hard. The haiku made me stop and think. My favorite line is “the new leaf turns itself.”
eclare
Beautiful, the photos and haiku.
The Fat Kate Middleton
Lovely…these lifted my heart. Could you be persuaded to post these here on a regular (or semi-regular) basis?
Betty
Just lovely, the pictures and the haikus.
Albatrossity
Beautiful. Thank you for sharing these with us!
Immanentize
What a great idea and tradition you have started for yourself and your sister and friends. And your pictures are lovely and your eye is true.
Who am I to ask
If tradition matters when
Poems are written.
Barbara
What a nice start to the morning!
WaterGirl
@The Fat Kate Middleton: I’m pretty sure that I said exactly that the last time we were gifted with haikus, which I presume were also from Munira.
So I will third your second of the original request. :-)
WaterGirl
Wonderful way to start the day. I meant that about us, getting to see your haikus with these lovely photos, but it also applies to you.
Hmm, with 30 days in a month, and 10 images in a post, is it greedy to ask if maybe we could get these from you 3 times a month? :-)
Anyway
Lovely – both images and words. Thank you for sharing.
martha
So lovely, and yes, I too want to be on your mailing list! A wonderful discipline.
Kevin
Very cool idea. We are traveling up to WA later this month. Flying home from Bellingham. Small world!
Miki
Beautiful, photos and poetry. Thank you so much for sharing with us.
J R in WV
Thanks for sharing your work, it is wonderful!
Slightly off-topic, but many years ago I brought a potted orchid home from Kroger’s for the Wife. Still in its original pot, on the windowsill over the kitchen sink, this plant of 4 broad leaves at a time put out a long thread of greenery a week or two ago, and now the first of what looks to be 4 or 5 blooms is open above the kitchen sink.
This is the more remarkable since both Wife and I can kill a plant just be being around it!
I water it with a little cup-sized antique glass insulator once or twice a week, no other care has been necessary so far.
Also a floral topic, the ramps I have planted on the hillside just south of the house have climbed out of the earth, then fallen back into the ground. Now, though, the invisible underground ramps have also put forth tall skinny stalks with blooms above each thick patch of nature’s finest onion species. Dozens of blooms like tiny starbursts of white in a sphere about as big as a quarter.
Photos to follow, eventually.
MelissaM
These are lovely, and OTR is too short sometimes. I, too, would love to see these more often.
arrieve
This is so wonderful! Thank you for sharing.
Haikus are such a fun way to play with language. I’ve been studying Spanish (a useful tool for teachers of English as a second language) and sometimes I write a haiku in Spanish for fun. Playing with the words makes me feel as though I own them somehow.
But writing a good haiku (in English) requires being able to find just the right slice of a longer string of words so that when you read it you think, “Yes, that’s exactly right, but I never saw that before.”
You are doing that.
munira
Good morning everyone. Just tuning in from the west coast. Thank you all for your lovely comments. A little haiku pedantry – the plural of haiku is haiku – no ‘s’. As for getting on my mailing list – it’s really a text list – I guess you could email your cell phone numbers to Watergirl and she could send them to me. And as for doing posts more often, I can try. I’m pretty busy – still working part time, gardening, playing music, and just keeping my life together, but I’ll make an effort.
Madeleine
Thank you. The photos are such individuals and the haiku capture the moment beautifully. When you are willing, please send more.
Jill
I am the haiku and photo receiving sister—also a recipient, along with the rest of the family, of a calendar each Christmas with 12 haiku and photo pairings. A lovely way to start the day and end the year.
Munira
@WaterGirl: Yes, they were from me the last time. This is the second post.
Munira
@arrieve: Thank you. I’ve written a few in French, my second language, and it’s definitely more challenging.
Munira
@Jill: Thanks sister for your support. It does help keep the haiku coming.
Munira
@Immanentize: Ah yes, tradition. Some haiku poets writing in western languages still use the 5-7-5 format, but most don’t. It works for Japanese syllables, but not so well for western languages. It often leads to padding the lines and they come out longer than they need to be. I don’t know Japanese, but apparently, the whole idea of syllables is different. There are quite a few articles in haiku journals on this subject.
A woman from anywhere (formerly Mohagan)
These are wonderful. I add my vote to having semi-regular posting of them. My favorite is the Junco with the fallen cherry blossoms, but all of them were great. You are good! Please keep it up
ETA: I always wondered about the syllable count thing in Japanese vs. English. Thanks for the short discussion.
Munira
@A woman from anywhere (formerly Mohagan): Thanks. I like that one, too. I felt a connection to that little bird, who was also walking on the cherry blossoms.
way2blue
Very cool. Thank you for sharing.
JustRuss
As a fellow PNWer, “the light behind the clouds” really resonates this year, it’s been so dreary. Hope you post more of these some time, they are wonderful.
John S Green
Every one of your eight photo-ku are beautifully woven. A treasure to have such a lovely hobby.
A walk to enjoy nature and write haiku has a name. It is called a ginko. Munira is very kind to share her ginkos (plural?) with us.
Munira
@JustRuss: Thanks. We have had a lot of rain this spring.
stinger
@Jill: What a thoughtful and lasting gift!
dkinPa
Your words and pictures are lovely! Thank you for sharing.
munira
@John S Green: Thank you, John.
Swampwoman
I am the friend of the famous ginkgo girl Munira. Along with her sister Jill, I start my day with her photo and haiku texts and just now caught up with these especially lovely ones. I love to see her art appreciated by so many. She has amazing gifts and I am fortunate to have been her friend for more than fifty years.