Haiku hound

Haiku, Photography, Afghan Hounds, Australia, Poetry

thinking

By on

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clear viewing

vast is the landscape

new haiku

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vast ocean

horizon beckons

clear the mind

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clear new year

vast as the ocean

take some time

This is my contribution to RonovanWrites Weekly Haiku Poetry Prompt Challenge 78 Vast&Clear. Access all the haiku by many creative poets from around the world at https://ronovanwrites.wordpress.com/category/haiku-prompt-challenge/

The images are from the top :

  1. Looking out from Red Rock, an extinct volcano near Colac in the Western Districts of Victoria. From here one can see a number of other extinct volcanos that together make up the largest volcanic plain in the world, (possibly). This region is geologically recent in terms of volcanic activity but on-one talks about this fact. Stimulating incentive to formulating haiku.
  2. That is me standing on the beach north of Bicheno on the central east coast of beautiful Tasmania, the amazing island state of Australia. If you want to clear your mind of dross spend a couple of weeks in Tasmania, better still live there.
  3. Another beautiful sunset from the cliffs at Black Rock two nights ago on 6th January. No better place to think about New Year resolutions, that is think about them!

35 Responses to “thinking”

    • denis1950

      Thanks for your kind words Al. That was the quickest response in my short Blogging career. I uploaded the page and you responded within 3 minutes. Must be all that fresh air in Ireland at this time of the year?
      If you are quick and get out to Melbourne in the next week or so you will have the chance to view even better sunsets than this one.If you are a tennis fan you can take in the Australian Open as a bonus.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply
    • denis1950

      Sorry Al, I guess there is fresh air in England between rain events!! I can’t understand how any visit to Australia does not begin in Melbourne however make amends next time . You can always take the little tacker on a holiday and video the highlights , then he can be reminded at a later date.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply
      • Al The Author

        The visit was built around a week in Sydney, a week travelling around (inc, regrettably, to Canberra), then a week with friends in Brisbane… hindsight is wonderful!
        🙂

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  2. Al The Author

    (I’m in England) Just happened to be online at the right time 🙂 I’ve got a visit to Melbourne mentally pencilled in for when my youngest son (currently 2) is old enough to enjoy/remember it. I visited Australia in 2007 for three weeks, but didn’t have time to get to Melbourne – I plan on making amends for that eventually!

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    Reply
  5. Vashti Quiroz-Vega

    Beautiful pictures and haiku. I love haiku about nature. It’s so cool how you gave us the information behind the photos––no one does that! I love it and wish more people would. Maybe it’s just me, I’m such a curious person. Great job! 😀

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    Reply
    • denis1950

      Thanks for your perceptive feedback Vashti. When I decided to blog I planned to combine three of my loves, photography, haiku and sharing my experiences through brief stories, (the latter being the old teacher coming out in me). Your encouraging comments justify my blogging style. Along the way I have met a wonderful group of fellow bloggers , (yourself included) who share my interests.

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  6. Janice

    An expansive collection of haiku and photos. Broad vistas are so calming. They are all beautiful–I found the first one fascinating as I haven’t seen a scene quite like it–the rolling shapes and rich colours.

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    Reply
    • denis1950

      Thanks for your perceptive and encouraging thoughts Janice. This whole volcanic plain is quite an amazing sight especially when viewed from the top of one of the extinct volcanos as was this scene. I have been travelling through it from all directions since I was a small child but only began ascending the peaks well into my years. The area includes some very productive farming land as the soil is rich volcanic. Here is a link to images and maps of the plain it has some fascinating stuff.
      https://www.google.com.au/search?q=volcanic+plains+victoria&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjbvZHDwZ7KAhWC5KYKHSJKCKUQsAQIJw&biw=1057&bih=988&dpr=2

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            • denis1950

              It did, however the British invaders, my ancestors included, tried to destroy as much as possible. In this Volcanic region the indigenous people built permanent stone dwellings and practiced a form of agriculture with certain crops and in the west, eel farming. The British settlers in the early C19th destroyed most /all of the stone structures and built walls out of them. I will not detail what happened to almost all the original inhabitants. Such has been the denial of this aspect of Australian History . Only in the last 30 years do we now discuss the WAR that took place. The conservative elements of our society, (most of the white middle class Anglo Saxon men with wealth and power)our current federal government included still actively push this denial

              Liked by 1 person

              Reply
              • Janice

                It’s so sad sometimes when we look back. In Canada there are similar stories and a process of amends and reconciliation just gaining some momentum.

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  7. Olga

    Your love of the land really shows in these haiku. The last one is a good reminder to slow down and “take some time.” Stunning photos, Denis.

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    Reply
    • Denis1950

      Thanks Suzanne I really appreciate your thoughts. I have decided to write 3/5/3 haiku after guidance from a very respected and experienced Japanese haiku sensei who guides a group of bi – lingual haiku writers. She suggests the translation to Japanese from 3/5/3 English is much more natural. I occasionally write 5/7/5 but find the other way much more challenging and captures the essence of my thinking. The bottom line is one can write haiku without tight syllable control but its great to set a boundary and use that as a challenge.

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      • Suzanne

        That’s fascinating Denis. I haven’t heard of that syllable count before. I’m still stuck in the 5/7/5 pattern though I do find it more and more and limited. Jack Kerouac (the beat poet who many consider the man who bought haiku to the west) said we should disregard the syllable count altogether and just write short three line haiku.

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        • Denis1950

          Jack is right, that is the bottom line, 3 lines the only rule. I use 3/5/3 to get close to the Japanese approach of 17 syllables. I have only been doing 3/5/3 on my blog for some time now. An interesting challenge is to do a 5/7/5 then break it down to 3/5/3/. After a while it gets natural.

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          • Suzanne

            Thanks for the tip. I’m rewriting a lot of my older haiku right now. I’ll see if I can condense them further.

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