Regardless of your specific holiday tradition, we can all celebrate the solstice. The solar cycle has reached one extreme and is now returning to center. Which it will blow right past until it reaches the other extreme, and then back again. The original pendulum.
Changing constantly, it remains a model for balance and equilibrium.
Here in the northern hemisphere, we celebrate the return of the light. Enough of the short daylight hours and long nights! Bring on the light! Soon we’ll get hints of spring: buds on tree branches, green shoots pushing through decaying matter.
In the southern hemisphere, where I’ve spent several years and many holiday seasons, it is summer summer summer, building up to Carnival. And how perfect to have Christmas at the start of the kids’ summer vacation from school.
In traditional haiku, there is the formal requirement of the kigo, a seasonal word or reference. It took me a long time, but I think I finally got it. Haiku is ultimately about nature, and nature is inseparable from the concept of seasons. And we are inseparable from nature. Every season, be it solar or metaphoric, gives us something to celebrate, something to let go of, and something new to embrace.
Anyway, here are this week’s seven haiku, and where they got mailed to.
haiku 20221219 >> Prestbury, Cheltenham United Kingdom
bare winter branches our neighbor keeps her blinds pulled tight
haiku 20221220 >> Tucson, AZ USA
sweeping pine needles off the front walk last day of autumn
haiku 20221221 >> New York City, NY USA
solstice morning has anyone told the cat rolling in the grass?
haiku 20221222 >> Ashland, WI USA
two crows perched on opposing eaves still not speaking
haiku 20221223 >> Stockbridge, MA, USA
in the shade under the eaves one patch of snow endures
haiku 20221224 >> Pittsburgh, PA USA
yard work raw white tendrils under the wet leaves
haiku 2022125 >> El Dorado Hills, CA USA
christmas afternoon the pinetops bright green in the dying light
Well, there you have ‘em. I hope you embrace the new, let go of the old, and cherish every bit of it. See you in the new year!
And don’t forget, if you want me to mail you one of my haiku postcards, all you gotta do is ask.
I like 'yard work' best.
beneath
the detritus
new growth