Poems from June III - Haiku

I tried to avoid haiku during June. It is a style I am fairly familiar with and therefore wanted to stay away from. In addition, writing such short pieces felt disingenuous to the exercise despite how I enjoy them. That said, I returned to the concept of nothingness and wrote a series of haiku dealing with it.

"Six Empty Haiku and One on Fire," June 30, 2013
A Cat & i walk,
finding emptiness crumpled
in packs of twenty.

Two bottles: blessings
of gratitude, made full by
joyful emptiness.

An almost vacant
room made full & warm with
music, wine, comrades.

Empty pages that are
marble waiting for hammer,
chisel, & patience.

The hollow of an
empty glass; a nothing that
marks meaningfulness

This space stands littered
with the trails of those not now
present passers-by.

Fire of a forge
held aloft between fingers
sculpting brilliant words.

...

Reflections: All in all, I wrote 15 poems in 30 days. Not exactly hitting the mark, but a solid exercise. The regularity of haiku I've practiced in the past probably maintained the perspective I was trying for more than this. That said, poetic writing is a challenge and this was a nice way to get in the habit. In addition, I need to finish an essay I started last month on SF and alien encounters that allows me to meditate on what a first contact scenario might actually resemble. (Now I'm pondering a follow up that pits this more in the, "They're already here" scenario and why that would be viable.) I think I'll get to that later on today.

In the quotidian, I am cleaning and seasoning my cast iron. It is an exercise in patience and attention that I very much enjoy. Here's a little poem about it:

Iron recast by
loving heat, purifying
with patient practice.

There is something about fire/heat/energy and emptiness/vacancy/nothingness that I find perfect themes in poetry. They envelop whole fields of imagery, personal experience, transformation, functionality... I just love it. Perhaps I am already becoming too reliant on them.

Also in the day-to-day, I'm considering a condo or home purchase, even to the effect of taking a first-time homebuyers' class at BOTHANDS on August 17th. Anyone want to join?