Watchful

brown racing stripes

watchful scouting stillness

perched upon a stump

KJ

How many of us are watchful? What do we zoom our watchfulness upon? My mentor once shared the idea of a bulls eye target and organizing our desk with the things we use most often close to us. She also shared the idea with me of identifying the different layers of people in our lives, those we are closest to to those just out there in the Universe. So, I ask myself, what part of the circle in my life am I being watchful at this moment? This haiku is again from my trip in the forest as I observed the behavior of chipmunks.

Journey

partners on a search

the forest hillside knows them--

chipmunks separate

KJ

My brief few days in the National Forest in Oregon I wrote a series of haiku. My understanding is that one of the elements of haiku is the contrast of a natural situation. So, a pair of chipmunks start out together foraging and take their own path to then return to their burrow. This event brought to mind the relationships we have with people. I was taught that in a good marriage relationship the two people became one in all things. I am older and wiser now. We are more like the chipmunks.