A Morning Haiku

and writing together

Dear Writers,

Yesterday we had our first “writers write together” session and it was so lovely. I’ve decided to open the space up to everyone temporarily. So, if you’d like to join on Tuesdays or Thursdays, please register.

Tuesday is a simple writing session. We chat for a few moments and then we write together.

Thursday is a generative, creative session where we freewrite with the help of prompts.

Register by clicking the button below.

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Today I want to share one of my favorite haikus with you. Please tell me what you think of it in the comments. For me, it evokes so many feelings.

"In Kyoto..."                             by Basho

In Kyoto,
hearing the cuckoo,
I long for Kyoto.

The haiku was translated by Jane Hirschfield, a poet and essayist.

FOR WHAT BINDS US                                          by Jane Hirschfield


There are names for what binds us:
strong forces, weak forces.
Look around, you can see them:
the skin that forms in a half-empty cup,
nails rusting into the places they join,
joints dovetailed on their own weight.
The way things stay so solidly
wherever they've been set down—
and gravity, scientists say, is weak.

And see how the flesh grows back
across a wound, with a great vehemence,
more strong
than the simple, untested surface before.
There's a name for it on horses,
when it comes back darker and raised: proud flesh,

as all flesh,
is proud of its wounds, wears them
as honors given out after battle,
small triumphs pinned to the chest—

And when two people have loved each other
see how it is like a
scar between their bodies,
stronger, darker, and proud;
how the black cord makes of them a single fabric
that nothing can tear or mend.

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EDO ERA POET MATSUO BASHO (Paris Review)

I hope you have a wonderful day today. Tell me in the comments what you’re doing for yourself this weekend.