Rasheed Hughes explains that poetry can be a kind of meditation. It explores how the art of haiku can open your heart and bring a sense of peace and awe-inspired expression into your practice.
Life has a lot to offer, if we only listen. The evening was young and my body was tired from moving all day. There was an essential calm in the air, with gray skies above and a steady but very light rain falling. I sat at my desk and looked out my back window as I often do after a long day of reading or writing. There seem to be very few of the usual sounds of insects and animals on a late summer evening. The candle flame to my left on my ancestral altar reminded me of the sanctity of rest, so I allowed myself the moment. I enjoy cracking my window for a bit to listen to the sound of the rain with the scalloped sound of thunder on the horizon. As I do on many rainy days, I felt the rain calling me to listen deeply, so I obeyed.
As I sat enjoying the rain for a while, I began to think of a few words from Mama Alice Walker’s poem “Be No One’s Lover.”
Be nobody’s lover;
Be an outcast
Be an outcast;
Be happy walking alone
I felt alone, but not separate. I exhaled. There was something sacred in the middle: undivided knowledge. A firm conviction of belonging arose within me. It was as if I was bearing witness to my boundless love. in AweI gave up.
Through this knowledge, the following haiku poem came to me in a spontaneous and unstructured way. In that moment, life seemed intimate and imminent. I was caressed by solitude and refreshing clarity; A moment of easy contemplation unfolds. There was no goal or desire present, only awareness of the present moment.
I’m not sure why haiku was the form of writing that came to me at that moment. Poetry or writing is not how I usually express myself anymore contemplation. I may take some notes, but I rarely write them in poetry form. I tend to prefer to enjoy the natural clarity of mind after moments like this. maybe Haiku It emerged because of the natural slowness of rhythm and spaciousness required throughout the process of haiku poetry. Who knows?
With the window slightly open, letting the gentle sound of rain and soft breeze in, I began writing these poems.
Poetry can be a kind of meditation
If you don’t understand the meaning of haiku, that’s okay. The gift of haiku is the patience that is evoked, wonder, and, on special occasions, confusion. You may feel that there are many possible interpretations of a haiku poem. That’s good too; Let everything be true and untrue. I invite you to take a breath between reading each haiku poem.
Different knowledge
Which enters me from below.
They frown at me, shrink!
I hear them calling
In the cool breeze at my feet.
I’m contracting, that’s me!
It’s time to slow down.
What will my five-year plan be?
It’s night time, don’t sleep!
Overcast, light rain.
Lots of sunshine sadness
I felt at peace.
Oh, dreadlocks and beard!
The way they stare in the streets
Feels like, please don’t shoot!
The paper is stuck,
Autumn, a few yellow and pink.
Don’t rush, just be
Candle burning bright.
I think walking back and forth,
Tomorrow, not now.
Try your hand at haiku
I hope everyone can find joy in writing haiku. It really can slow down your mind and open your heart when you need it most. Here are some tips to get started.
- Go for a walk Or sitting in your favorite chair at home.
- Monitor your surroundings. Notice the colors, weather, and sounds.
- listen to your heart And feeling what is happening inside.
- Without much thought, in a couple of sentences, pause and write down what catches your attention.
- Then write a third sentence This is not closely related to the first two sentences.
- See if you can draw a surprising connection between the first and third sentences.
- Remember, try to be clear about the vision or message you want to reveal To the reader.
- If you feel like a challenge, rewrite the three sentences according to the traditional haiku structure: Three lines, five syllables in the first line, seven in the second, and five in the third.
- Most importantly, don’t judge yourself What I came up with.
Try this guided meditation as a mindful writing prompt
Invitation is to connect with your senses in a real or imagined environment. What do you hear? What do you smell? Notice the emotional content of the space. When you’re done, transfer what you’ve learned to the page in whatever way works for you. Read more 
