Bring in the New Year with haiku poetry

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

2017! Another year has flown by. Here we are saying good-bye to 2016 with reflection and thought and embracing a new year filled with hope and inspiration for what lies ahead. Like most of us, I like take to the time to review what I’ve accomplished over the past year. An overview of what has gone on and where I’m headed and what I would like to achieve in 2017. I don’t make resolutions, instead I like to set goals and make a plan of action to help manifest them. Taking some quiet time to think about just what I want to learn, do and experience in my world of haiku and creativity.

As I continue to learn more about haiku poetry I’m more and more enamored with the simplicity of this form of the written word. It perfectly fits in todays fast paced world as it reflects everyday life. Allowing people to have little snippets of everyday moments that is refreshing, uplifting and moving. Slowing down is becoming more and more important and haiku provides a way to slow down that makes it quick and easy to retain for the fast paced energy in which we are living. Haiku can create the balance that most of us are craving.

Throughout 2016 I have learned so much about haiku and part of that has been about how the Japanese master haiku poets viewed the new year as a part of the seasons. If you’ve taken the mini introductory course you will learn a bit about the connection that haiku has with the seasons and the seasonal words that are often used to give the poem a sense of time. Haiku poets would celebrate the new year by writing haiku and painting haiga (haiku with art).

Here are some of the “New Year” haiku words that celebrate a new beginning and fresh start from The Haiku Handbook by William J. Higginson and Penny Harter.

first sunrise

the New Year
New Year’s morning
last year
first morning
gate-pines
rice cakes
dried persimmon
pine seeds
rice-cake flowers
young herbs
first writing
first dream
bonfire

And, here are a couple of New Years haiku by Issa.

after this night
a new year dawns!
children

Issa – translated by David G. Lanoue

sprinkled in
with the new year’s rain…
flitting snow

Issa – translated by David G. Lanoue

As we gear up for 2017, January is the perfect time to take the FREE 5 day mini introductory course to see how haiku can help you celebrate personal and meaningful moments. Why not start the new year off on a positive note, tap into your creative side and learn a new skill? Join me into the beautiful world of Everyday Haiku.