We Carve our Hearts on Stone
By Tammy T. Stone
Though
I love writing in many different forms and styles, lately I’ve found poetry
running through my veins, the poetic framework fitting so seamlessly with my
experiences as they weave through my deepest recesses and into expressive
emergence.
This
year, I felt compelled to write a poem per day during National Poetry Month in
April. As I’m currently living in Japan, I decided to write haikus – not the
traditional Japanese haiku, but the more standardized version that follows the
5-7-5 syllable count. True in some sense to the Japanese style of haiku,
however, I quickly found myself instinctively focusing on the theme of nature.
At
the very beginning, I wrote a poem and then found a photo to accompany it, but
after a few days, I found myself drawn to the idea of seeking out a photo to
draw inspiration from. Imagery and language complement each other so
strikingly, intellect and formulation on the one side, and a landscape beyond
words and into the realm sensory consciousness on the other; I chose photos
that spoke directly to me on a sensual and emotional level, ones that evoked
strong memories associated with the moment I captured the image during a long
and beautiful journey through Southeast Asia and India, leading to Japan. The
haikus that followed were not a “direct result” of the photograph, but very
often mirrored its aesthetic and preoccupation, while also remaining very much tethered
to my heart on that given day.
 |
| Pictured is the author |
One
example of this was the day the devastating earthquake hit Nepal. My heart was
spilling over in sadness and grief, and the photo I selected – taken in the
Himalayan foothills – and the haiku I wrote seemed to find each other before
the words were even written.
This
video below, entitled “We Carve Hearts on Stone”, is a compilation of the 30
days of poems and photographs, and owes its existence to the unending
inspirations of Catherine Ghosh, whose idea it was to make this video, who
encouraged me to re-read a month’s worth of work in search of its story – what
a cathartic moment, to find it in the search for peace and stillness, and the
lessons Earth’s splendors offer! – and who singlehandedly produced and edited
the video, and found the brilliant music to accompany the piece to such
evocative effect. Catherine, thank you from the bottom of my heart.
(Click play to experience the video collaboration)
~Featuring music by pianist Larry Kutcher~
Tammy T. Stone is a Canadian writer, photographer and chronicler of life as it passes through us. Always a wanderer, she's endlessly mesmerized by people, places and everything in between; the world is somehow so vast and so small. She feels so lucky to have been able to work, learn, live and travel far and wide, writing, photographing and wellness-practicing along the way. She invites you to see some of her recent photography here and to connect with her on her writer's page, twitter and her blog, There’s No War in World, here.
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