Journey of the Heart

I am still in the early stages of coming to terms with writing haiku... ... though they have long pulled me in to their world of brevity, bright clarity, wisdom and naked, emotive imagery. I’m a novice! I read the works of Bashō and other great haiku poets, and am humbled by their brilliance, and inspired to live, breathe and encounter this world as I imagine they must have, to make my way toward insights and expressions such as these: In the cicada's cry No sign can foretell How soon it must die.   Matsuo Bashō Blowing from the west Fallen leaves gather In the east.  Yosa Buson Don’t weep, insects - Lovers, stars themselves, Must part.  Kobayashi Issa Though I love writing in almost every form, from the personal essay, to short stories and other forms of poetry, there is something that keeps me trying my hand at haiku. Doing so feels only like a great writing practice but a spiritual one as well (aren’t all our practices spirit...

                                                                                  (Editor's note) Souls uniting from all over the world to make art via the Internet is so very inspiring to me!  The poems you are about to read below emerged from one such connection. They will take you on a journey  through  the chakras, or the psycho-energetic centers in our bodies ,  according  to the ancient yoga tradition.   The poetry flowed out of Tammy T. Stone, a Canadian writer and photographer living in Japan, after having been moved by the beautiful yoga  artwork of Helene Averous, who is French and living in Singapore. Their beautiful creations were then woven together by yours  truly, into a meditational video you may ...