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Writer's pictureVandana Parashar

open sky :: SAMVAAD | 10th July

Updated: Jul 10, 2022

hosts: Sanjuktaa Asopa & Vandana Parashar


be still wind

and know rain

that I am trees


--- Renee Owen

(Modern haiku 50.2, 2019, Modern Haiku Favourite Haiku of The Issue Award, The Haiku Foundation 2019 Shortlist for Best Individaul Haiku Award)


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11 Comments


Kavita Ratna
Kavita Ratna
Jul 15, 2022

My reading was linked to two sanskrit vedantic notions.


Tat tvam asi: that thou art.

Aham brahmasmi: I am the divine/universe.


I too could read it in any direction and arrive at both the spiritual spaces mentioned above.

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Renee Owen
Jul 13, 2022

Greetings all, and thanks for your generous words about this haiku. I will tell you a bit more, which may (or may not :) answer some of your questions. With busy and demanding work as a psychotherapist, I’ve committed to taking regular solo personal retreats to recharge, where I immerse myself in nature, write poetry and make art.

A small cabin set in a meadow, within a stone’s throw of a river, is one of my favorite spots. Time spent alone, outdoors in a natural environment, where I’m still and quiet – I become the wind in the trees, the blessed rain, the fox, the fawn, the river coursing to the sea. This experience of unity with all th…

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lakshmi iyer
lakshmi iyer
Jul 15, 2022
Replying to

Thanks Renee! Very inspiring!!

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Kala Ramesh
Kala Ramesh
Jul 10, 2022

I read it the way Lakshmi did. Close to a parallel haiku, but it's not a parallel haiku because the right side, reads like three separate images.


wind rain trees


If the team could get Renee to explain it might be good.

Thank you.

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lakshmi iyer
lakshmi iyer
Jul 11, 2022
Replying to

It isn't parallel haiku. I was just contemplating on the words on the right and left as a link to the mass natural assets of this globe.

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lakshmi iyer
lakshmi iyer
Jul 10, 2022

So many different ways to write a haiku and hats off to Kala Ramesh and entire team for giving to the world this wonderful blog called

open sky :: SAMVAAD!!


Samvaad


I would really enjoy and feel happy that we really have a dialogue/ conversations within ourselves to ponder on the various types and methods of haiku writing here.


If i just take the left portions, it would read


"be still and know that I am"


Isn't it a thought provoking poem?

.

And in the right, there are


"wind rain trees"

.

They are the essential properties of nature and inter linked.


So the whole poem is interconnected and a precis of the cosmic being.


**

Spilling out my…


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RS
RS
Jul 10, 2022

Stunning work. A mini autobiography has been written so well. Thank you for sharing!

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