When Mary Lee Hahn invited us all to join her in writing a daily haiku during the month of December, I wasn’t sure I had the energy. The past year has been challenging in so many ways and I have often found it difficult to put my worries and frustrations aside and just write. But, like Mary Lee, I needed to find a way to “focus on moments and slows me down to a more livable pace.”
Writing a haiku each day has helped me shift into low gear and find the poetry in what Natalie Babbitt calls “those commonplace marvels which [the world] spreads so carelessly before us everyday.” For me, many of these marvels have arrived on the wings of birds, so it seems appropriate to end the year with a mini-collection of haiku inspired by my feathered friends.
a quartet of crows:
onyx adornments in oak’s
leafless crown
tracks in fresh snow:
thank you notes
from the birds
withered brown apple
summer’s forgotten bounty
blue jay’s surprise treat
like an eagle’s tail
plumes of white clouds fan out
over distant hills
© Catherine Flynn, 2017
Wishing you all a joyous holiday season. I’m looking forward to seeing you all in 2018! Please be sure to visit Buffy Silverman at Buffy’s Blog for the Poetry Friday Roundup.
Reading to the Core 
I haven’t kept up with a haiku every day. Probably more like every other day. These are so lovely. They remind me to look for the birds.
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Yes! That’s exactly it. Shift into low gear. I have really enjoyed the #haikuforhealing. Some days I write more than one. Some days I skip. But, it’s truly healing and I love it.
onyx adornments–wow! love that
thank you notes from birds just might be my favorite.
Any thoughts of a collection of bird poems….lots of birds….not just one. You seem to have a great connection to them.
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I can’t pick a favorite, Catherine. They’re all so good. Birds are one of my favorite topics, too!
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I find such joy in my feathered neighbors, too. They’re daily reminders that the world is still filled with beauty and wonder, even on the darkest of days.
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Wonderful haiku, Catherine–it’s clear that you succeeded in slowing down and observing. I especially love those thank you notes from birds!
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I adore crows, and take a picture when I can. These are lovely, Catherine. I love your “thank you notes/from the birds”.
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Yes, focusing on moments is the only way to get through. Thanks for sharing your lovely haiku! Ruth, thereisnosuchthingasagodforsakentown.blogspot.com
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There are miracles in the moments. Thanks for joining in. Your haiku helped heal me!
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These are lovely haikus Catherine, and definitely breathe in nature while slowing us down. I especially like your last eagle tribute and your “plumes of white clouds,” thanks for all. I’m a big fan of Natalie Babbitt too; thanks for all and Happy Holidays!
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Lovely. They make me want to caw myself.
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These are lovely, Catherine. My occasional participation in #haikuforhealing this month has been such a positive. I’ve always adored bird tracks in the snow but thanks to your haiku, I’m going to see them as thank you notes from now on.
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I adore those thank you notes in the snow, Catherine. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed, and have been healed, by your daily haiku. Hope to join in another time. Happy New Year!
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I’ve enjoyed your haiku, and have greatly appreciated the invitation to slow down, notice and write about those gifts strewn through our days.
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