Hello my fellow partners-in-crime-poets! Happy Haibun Monday. It is almost the first of September, a time to which many means that summer is dying. Well…not quite. It will not be officially autumn until September 22, the Autumnal Equinox. However, summer is winding down and soon fall will be gearing up with all of its blazing colors, fruits and veggies indicative of the season, cooler air and maybe the first frost. But summer is still swinging on the swingset, still swimming in the lake, still picnicking away. This is the season between seasons…the almost but not quite time of the year. It could be in between winter and spring, spring and summer, summer and fall and fall and winter.

I was thinking intensely of the Japanese word, komorebi (koe moe ray bee) which means specifically light that is filtered between leaves and usually occurring in spring and fall…but in that in-between-season. I would like you all to write a haibun about how you are affected by season changes, if you do any special activities, what you have done in the past or have planned for the future season between seasons: vacations, birthday celebrations, weddings, starting to school or the birth of a child or grandchild, staring anew job, or being fired, retiring or starting a new job, freezing or canning up the last of summer’s bounty, making food that is geared to cooler weather (chili, certain soups or stews, baked chicken, etc.) taking walks (how does this time of year smell to you, feel or look to you), putting out more wild bird feeders and suet cakes, anything that brings to mind, to smell, to taste, to feeling this in-between-season.

The directions are simple:
– One to three tight paragraphs
– Ending with a classic haiku. Please note: there must be a season word in the haiku that tells us the when of the poem. If there is no season word, you do not have a haiku. The syllable count is negligible but…the season word marks the difference between a haiku and a senryu or micropoem. Japanese haiku poets often use a saijiki or a season word almanac/directry.  PLEASE write your haiku with that mind. Season words can include but are not limited to sleet, sunburn, beach, watermelon, cold air, warm air, autumn blue skies, etc. There are over 15,000 season words in the saijiki.  You may also use something like a county fair, state fair (usually held in this odd time in the US) or snow or snow skiing, football (either or American or any other nationality football.  also include a cutting word in the haiku.  Haiku are writing without capitalization and punctuation – except for the short dash. Haiku are written to be read in one breath with the short dash indicating a brief aspiration.
– Put a link on your page to this post
– Link your haibun to Mr. Linky below.

Have fun. Enjoy yourselves. And please, share this with other poetic friends.  Make the rounds.  Comment on others’ haibun and yes, comment before they comment on your haibun.  Get to know your fellow poets.  Talk, engage, say…thank you  in response to a comment.