Hello everyone! Welcome to Haibun Monday. Today, I will be discussing “changes in seasons” – fall to winter, winter to spring, spring to summer, summer to fall or, seasons in our lives – youth to young adult, young adult to adult, adult to middle aged, middle aged to older aged. Change is inevitable in our lives and we have all experienced changes in our lives, our seasons, our work, our children – change!
The Japanese aesthetic is all about change – impermanence. Mujo. Our lives are not the same as yesterday nor will they be the same tomorrow. Some of us fight against change tooth and nail, others of us go with the flow. Some of us resist but give in eventually. We all view change differently.
“The only way to make sense out of change is to plunge into it, move with it, and join the dance.” ―Alan Watts
The Japanese has several words associated with change: mujo, mono no aware (pathos of things), wabi (subdued, austere beauty), sabi (rustic patina), yugen (nysterious profundity), iki (refined style), and kire (cutting). All of these words are in the Japanese aesthetic pertaining to change and their outlook on life.
So….what do I want you to write about? Change! How you have noticed the coming of fall or another season, changes in your body as you grow older, your melancholy on the passing of things or, your joy on the passing of things. How your life has changed since falling in love, getting divorced, being hired into your dream job, losing your job, losing someone or something you loved, how you enjoy the first snow of the winter, how you long for spring, how you love autumn and the smell of leaves, going to the beach or lake in the summer and lying about being lazy. In other words, I want you to pay attention to how you feel, how you react to change, how you grow or how you become less due to changes.
Down here in the South, it is still summer. Days are still in the 90’s, nights are still in the mid-seventies. It will not become autumn until end of October, in spite of a first frost or leaves changing colors. And the Hunter’s Moon is out around the 16th of October. The Hunter’s Moon is also known as the Dying Grass Moon or the Traveler’s Moon. Up North, folks are experiencing cool weather, leaves changing colors. Down in the Southern Hemisphere, winter is starting to turn to spring. So, changes in seasons is relative to where you live.
Please write for me a one paragraph haibun about change. End it with a nature-based haiku. And speaking of changes, this will be the last haibun prompt I will be doing for you all until mid/end of November due to family reasons. I will be taking a hiatus from dVerse and writing for a bit. I thank you all for your writing of such wonderful haibun and how you all have reacted to the various prompts. I will be back in December. Bjorn and Grace will have guest prompters in my absence. I will miss you all dreadfully but it is only for a short time. So be well, write truthful haibun from your hearts. Take care of yourselves and those you love. And keep in mind these Japanese aesthetics and writing proper haiku!
If new to dVerse or even if not, please:
– Write your haibun and link it to dVerse.
– Post it to Mr. Linky here on this page.
– Visit each other, read, and comment on other writers. This is how we enjoy each other and grow our poetic community.
Toni Spencer (Kanzen Sakura, hayesspencer) has been reading, studying, and writing Japanese poetic forms for 40+ years and is still learning.
dVerse 
Hello everyone! Welcome to Haibun Monday!
Hello, changes are so strong at this time of the year… at autumn equinox I feel the blanket of darkness settling
I;m sure you do! Down here it is still summer and will remain so. Autumn is the briefest of our seasons.
Ours will be long and hard… Sometimes I feel like autumn is a great grindstone, a mill to break us down.
That is sad. I imagine that winter as far north as you are is cruel and the last bit of sun is precious.
Weather abruptly changed here and we are receiving much needed rain.
This is a wonderful prompt – especially thinking about change and that transitition between one state and another.
Toni: I’ve learned so much in your haibun hosting. Will miss you and wish all good things and serenity to you and your family.
Thank you Lillian. It is fun to host the haibun prompts and to come up with them. I will miss you all sorely. Thank you for your good wishes.
Hi Toni, this is a great prompt, thank you! I haven’t written mine yet but have an idea and hope it will flow effortlessly so I can get it linked up soon.
Of course, it’s still summer here too with the same temperatures that you’re experiencing. Only real change is that it’s getting dark sooner. We have to be extra patient for fall to show up.
As do we. It seems that autumn is the most fleeting of our lovely seasons.
Wishing you well in your hiatus, we will miss you!
Thank you Freya. I will miss you all as well.
I am back from my short trip. Missing the pub’s voices, smiles.
Thanks Toni for a wonderful and timely haibun prompt. We will miss you but we understand the need for the break. Come back when you are ready and rested.
Happy Monday and wishing you all a lovely week.
Thank you Grace. I am afraid the time away will not be thatvrestful but it is necessary. I will miss being here.
It is quiet here at the Pub this time ov day. I can hear you all out there scribbling away!
Or gently preparing for night at this part of the world… especially after a sleep deprived weekend…
Well, it looked like you had a good time! Get some good rest.
My scribbling is complete now! I just wanted to say how much your presence will be missed, Toni. Your voice is a clear and strong one…I will feel the void. xo
Thank you Gayle. You will most definitely be missed as well. hugs
Hugs… xo
I love this time of change as we move from summer into autumn. I think I’ve got a bit over-excited about the whole autumn thing and drifted away from the change aspect a little. Never mind. I loved writing it!
My daughter just showed me a spring haiku she wrote when she was 8. Here it is:
Chains of chicks today
Doing their first flying now
Flying over clouds.
She’s all changed now, too…
I love your daughter’s haiku! I love the visual of chains of chicks. I am glad you enjoyed writing your haibun!
Ha ha! We are such a poetic family!
Yes, you are!
Toni, may your hiatus be a comforting and cheerful one. you will be sorely missed. And thank you for your very thoughtful words on Japanese Aesthetics. This has been a big sticking point with me since I started to study and understand why haiku (and tanka) are cradled within these things: ma, yugen, sabi, etc. They are nothing to dismiss or sneer at. They are fundamental in the psychological and emotional (kokoru) of this form. You presented it well, and your words are convincing. The usage of these aesthetics gives a real sense of the ‘oddness’, the beauty of haiku.
Thank you for your kind words. I think people tend to forget the Japanese-ness of haiku, tanka, and their other forms and try too hard to make them into something American or Western.
Yes, they are Japanese aesthetics, but they are universal, too. And you are right. There are many reasons Westerners try to subvert the ‘rules’ of haiku and tanka…and in my opinion, most of them are unnecessary. When you don’t apply these particular aesthetics, I think you just get freeverse.
the facts, and our observatons and poetry tend to be based in our reality…something like that….reality isn’t the correct word, but we don’t ‘flow’ into metaphysical thinking as the Japanese do. The ‘ma’ is a good example of the difference. The void, the silence, the space and time issues….only in music do we westerners understand and utilize the ma. Ma is the key aesthetic in Japan I think. LOL> In any case, I welcome all discussion of this. I no longer say: learn the rules to break them. That is so unnecessary. I learn the rules now to utilize the structure and the aesthetics…that is the challenge for me. I’m not interested in bending them….LOL! I’m still trying to learn them.
I am still trying to learn them as well, after all these years! Basho once said to learn the rules and then forget them. I think he wasn’t saying to ignore them but to learn them so well, they become part of us. Which so many Americans take as “forget them”… I do truly detest fauxku and free verse haibun. It is hard for me to be civil! but I am working on that as well.
Well you are doing better than I am. I take it as a personal offense when someone, especially a poet…says “learn the rules, then break them.” Slap, slap, slap…LOL! How can you forget something that should go deep…I believe that ‘ingested’ properly, it goes…these aesthetics…into our poetic DNA. Junk haiku (of which I have written plenty) now grates on me. LOL
And all I can find is canned field peas. The injustice of life!
We have several brands of canned field peas up this way…Luck’s is on the best, always with snaps included and cooked with…..pork!
Ahhhh…..the only way to cook peas….and yes, Luck’s the best for this.
Will miss your insights into poetry and Japanese ways. Enjoy your break. I’ve had a short one but must get back into the poetic side soon.
Thank you. I will miss the poetry and people as well. I imagine I will be doing some writing, just not posting.
Good luck and time will fly. Take care.
Hey everyone,
Hope you are having an amazing day so far, sharing my haibun for today ‘Signe de l’automne’ thank you for hosting and for the wonderful opportunity Toni 💖 I am gonna miss you so much! Sigh.. this one’s for you 💖
Lots of love,
Sanaa
Thank you Sanaa. I am looking forward to reading your haibun! Hugs.
Hugs 💖
Hi Toni! Thank you for a great haibun prompt. We’re going to miss you. I hope your hiatus is fruitful and look forward to seeing you back here at the dVerse Poets Pub soon. I’m afraid I got back late from choir so I’ll be posting my haibun in the morning. Goodnight for now!
I shall look forward to reading it in the am. I am so glad you have choir and that you enjoy it so thoroughly. I am going to miss all of you.
A very interesting prompt! We will all miss you and eagerly await your return in December. Be blessed! 🙂
Thank you. Hopefully I will be able to be back sooner. We shall see how things go. thank you for your blessing
I am off for a bit to do dinner and family things. I will return to read and comment. Dnjoy yourselves and the drinks are on me! 🙂
best of wishes for your hiatus. Look forward to seeing you back!
Oh, I do love this prompt. Thank you, Toni. Counting the days till we can once again savor the beauty of the Japanese language through your prompts, and in the meantime, praying that all goes gently for you and your family.
Another day with Internet woes. Hopefully I will be able to get to everyone…and that it will be kind to be tomorrow when I’m hosting.
Thank you Toni for the prompt and the explanations. I have learned so much from you and all the others poets here at the pub in such a short period of time.
Thanks Toni, for a beautiful prompt. Change is one thing I don’t do well, so this one really tugged at my heart, but a healthy release it was.
Your expertise and guidance in haiku / haibun will be truly missed during your absence, but you have taught us well, so I’m sure we will rise to the challenge! 🙂
Late today. Love this, Toni. A truly beautiful prompt. I will get around to reading tomorrow, I hope. Much love and many prayers. ❤
Early morning here… loved the prompt…
Hi Toni! Thank you for the wonderful prompt. And personally, thank you for introducing haibun to me in a more in-depth manner. 🙂 I used to write haibuns before but it is you who taught me that haibun is always non-fiction and true. 🙂 I hope you’ll have a lovely hiatus. ❤
Thanks for this prompt, Toni, and for teaching us more about haibun! I’ve gained a respect and awe of them, but still find them uncomfortable to write – I’m all thumbs. 😮 Take care; return when you can!
Hi Toni, I posted my poem fairly late. I hope you and others will take a look at it. I will respond to everyone who comments on MY poem. (When I post late, it seems most don’t return comments.)