Haiku My Heart
March 2, 2012
Haiku My Heart is a weekly gathering of people. We write and create our poetry and share it with each other. This weekly calling on each other to share our thoughts has a very healing effect for me. Stop on by at Rebecca's recuerda mi corazon blog, and see more Haiku and find out how to participate.
Rising rippling air
Warming heart, soul and woodwork
Good warm memories
This chimney is exhausting the carbon laden air from the oak, birch, maple and ash that is burning down below. Why do these hot exhaust gasses make the air ripple? It is so simple of an answer, light refraction.
Light travels faster in hot air than in cold. You are actually seeing the light ‘bending’, refracting, when the hotter air from the chimney hits the colder air of the outside. The hot air rises naturally up to the skyward portion of the pipe as it is lighter than the heavier cold air.
Not many think of this simplicity when they see the ‘heat’ coming from a chimney, and maybe less so while living life, but in it's simplest form, life, being alive, is just that, simple. We are born, then we die.
More importantly than the reason why the light refracts and makes ripples to me is the memory of being outside on that cold winter’s day looking up at the chimney’s end and going back inside to get the camera to take the picture. Along with it came the fond memories of the cabin we lived in when all we had was this old wood stove and the gathered wood stacked outside by the big pine tree for heat.
Seems as though they were simpler days back then. Home ownership sure lets the money leak out of my wallet a lot quicker than renting a two room cabin in the woods. Health issues back then weren’t as much of a concern as they are these days. The Grandkids were younger, and therefore less complicated, and one of them was yet to be a thought. And old friends were still around to impart their wisdom.
These kinds of memories are what happens in between the lines of "We are born..." and "...then we die"
Why am I lamenting about this today? Maybe it is a simple case of getting older and wanting my load to be easier to carry. I’m heading into the weekend with plans to be in attendance to say goodbye again to a great friend and spirit man, Chris Leath, that passed one year ago. In his culture, someone has taken care of his soul for a year. Now, it's time to release it forever to the Universe. I’ll remember him and simpler times.
Peace
20 comments:
What a wonderful way to honor a friend ~ lovely haiku and neat photo ~ namaste, carol (A Creative Harbor)
LOL ~ Thanks for coming by my blog and reading my haikus ~ 'Dont quit your day job yet' ~ I tend to try and 'go with the flow' ~ have a great weekend ~ ^_^
We tend to forget the pain and hardship of the "good old days". Those days when we are no longer children and out on our own - we are young and strong and so full of hope. We are also discontented with how little experience and "things" we have and struggle to have "more" - anxious to move on to the next phase of our lives - so we miss seeing the beauty until much later when we are looking back. And when we look back, the air is warmer and a little distorted...
I miss wood smoke, but probably not as much as you miss Chris. May this be a healing day for you, and for all who still hold Chris in their hearts.
Perhaps a Resurrection
we are born
we do stuff
like write haiku
and look
at chimney tops
and
write more haiku
and go to the beach
and ride a bike
of one sort or another
and then repeat
and
we Love people
lots
and
a n d
THEN
after doing All This
for about 100 years...
THEN
we die
♥
May your memories keep your heart and soul warm for many years to come.
Life is a place to LIVE and store memories
for those time when we need to draw upon the past
to help give us strength for the future.
such wisdom here...
I thank you for that.
x..x
I love the picture and your words that fit perfectly!!!
I wish you a beautiful weekend!
i've been thinking about how when one has been close to death they understand so much more about life and living.
here's to holding our loved ones as close and comforting as winters blazing fires, here's to rising to the challenges of life straight on with courage and verve. here's to living life fully and lifting each other up along the way.
thanks again for "walking" with me. you are a gift in my life.
So beautiful this image, haiku, and the love for your friend. I love the shimmering in the air of transformation and the lives we live, touching each other in so many different ways... may there be warmth at your hearth and beauty in your heart as music wraps around you and that warm cup of morning coffee...
I love your stories and am glad you are still among us to tell them. Your friend's tradition of caring for one's soul sounds lovely, as I'm sure the ritual of its departing will be.
I am so glad I clicked on your blog. It kind of makes me feel better about everything. You stopped by mine too and left a kind comment, which meant a lot. Thanks! Take care...
Wonderful haiku... I wish you a weekend of good warm memories as you release your friends soul to the universe. He will always be with you.
It's time--on the wings of an angel, may his spirit rise.
What a lovely post--and what an honour to your friend and those who love him.
For some reason, my heart was heavy for a moment. And then I remembered that all G-d's kiddos get to go home and it got a bit lighter.
(((((((( Spadoman ))))))))))
I love the birth - death and the in between. I am sorry about your friend's death a year ago, but I like to think that all my beloveds are just beyond the veil. Regarding light refraction, I love to watch the sun setting over the ocean and the refraction changing the shapes. Always looking for that mythical green flash I have yet to see.
I always learn something new and soulful when I read your posts, Joe. I especially like the memories you share of your younger days and the joy it brings to you...and your readers, as well!
Thank you for visiting my haiku-blog Spadoman. You asked if I would like to tell you more about my haiku-style.
I write my haiku in the Kanshicho-style. This style was introduced and used by Matsuo Basho (1644-1694) a haiku master during the years 1683-1685. In the Kanshicho-style the syllable-count 5-7-5 isn't strict. A haiku in Kanshicho-style ca e.g. be 3-9-2 or 2-10-5. It's that syllable-count that made me writing my haiku as I wrtie them. All the other rules (of course with a touch of the Western World e.g. Kigo (season words) aren't so strict in using) are the same.
Haiku in Kanshicho-style are (in my opinion) more beautiful than the classical ones, because you can paint the moment better.
It's great to write haiku and ... for me it's a life-style. I live haiku, I breath haiku just as Basho did.
Namaste
PS. Please visit my blog again and if you want to know more about the Kanshicho style ... well just ask.
What an inspiring post. I do so long for the simplicity of life, now more so that I work in the city.
Nice to meet you ~
Somehow, your post speaks of acquiescence (don't know if this is the right translation - had to look it up) in battle with resistance... your post as well as the haiku are very powerful. cherish good memories and elebrate life this weekend my fiend.
Thank you for visiting my blog and responding to this post. It's Sunday morning. I did attend the memorial service for my friend Chris. mI saw many people I haven't seen in a while. That's always good when that happens.
I talked with many of my friends about warm weather plans attending Sundance ceremony and taking motorcycle rides.
One of the ceremonies that was held during the service is called, "Wiping of the Tears" ceremony. The family, having mourned for 1 year, wipe their tears away and symbolically get on with life without this powerful loved one that had passed 1 year ago.
We were entertained by drums and dancers, fed a giant feast for all people and given gifts by the family in thanks for sharing the life of their loved one with them.
Thank you all again for stopping by.
Peace, Mitakwe Oyasin
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