I am very honored to have one of my haiku selected for Daily Haiku. Thank you, Charlotte.
storm clouds passing
a woodpecker peeks
from a dripping hole
Daily Haiku: Jan. 6, 2022
Wet-Headed Woodpecker
My friends…many of the haiku I am prompted to write arise from visual experiences as my wife, Bobbie, and I travel in our motorhome RV. If we see something special and meaningful while I drive, she takes photos! Posts like this are collaborative, with a bit of embellishment on my part, and works well for us! Her capture of this old tree along the roadside was my prompt in this haiku/haiga/haibun. Thanks, sweetheart..
Thunder slowly rolls into the distance after the cold rain storm. The old tree never wavered but held its ground as it has for over a hundred years. Water dribbles down its remaining bark, winding through old ridges and crevices and onto the anthill below. A crow circles the tree once and flies on. Somewhere across the field, a cow moos.
storm clouds pass…
a woodpecker’s head
in a dripping hole
©Al W Gallia
I pull back my rain hood, breathe the fresh, crisp air, and walk out from the dilapidated cow shed toward my grandparent’s house across the field. From their chimney, the north wind carries the aroma of woodsmoke and bacon! Picking up my pace, I have a happy “thank you, Lord” in my heart.
the old limbless tree
warms in bright winter sun…
woodsmoke on the breeze
©Al W Gallia
Autumn Respite
A perfect autumn afternoon at Lake Martin, a short drive from home. The kind of day that brings a smile to my face, even when no one else is around, and chases stress and concern quickly away with beautiful earth-tones, stillness, and reflections, and life’s chorus.
a young gator waits
in dappled autumn sun
the frog moves closer
Al W Gallia
I treasure my time in Nature’s solitude; it is my direct channel to meditation and prayer where God is always present. Blessings and peace.
Cloudless Sky
A tinge of autumn in the air this morning! How delightful! The Indian Summer days following will be filled with subtle color changes and countless dragonflies. I love the feel of this season…it promises a rebirth of Joie de vivre if we are just patient and have faith.
swaying cypress moss…
countless dragonflies flitting
over the lilies
©️Al W Gallia
You are made of almost nothing
But of enough
To be great eyes
And diaphanous double vans;
To be ceaseless movement,
Unending hunger
Grappling love...
Excerpt from 'The Dragonfly' by Louise Bogan
Blessings and peace, my friends
Haiku Essay by Robert Epstein (USA)
Each day, I realize more and more how much I don’t know or understand about haiku. This essay by Robert Epstein will deserve many rereads.
Presence, Not Practice, in Haiku
by Robert Epstein
When I meet with a person in psychotherapy who is seeking support for some personal challenge or interpersonal conflict, I am as fully present as I can be during our time together. This being present––which is not based on any theory or approach––includes mindful awareness, compassionate non-attachment, openness, genuineness, humor (where appropriate) and intuition.
I used the term “mindful awareness” above because I do not have “a meditation practice,” as some students of meditation like to say. This is because I personally regard “practice” in the realm of meditating to be stultifying and confining. For me, meditative awareness can happen anywhere rather than in a meditation hall or in front of an altar. Because meditation and haiku parallel each other in some ways, I likewise view the notion of practice as it relates to haiku writing as both unnecessary and a…
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Haibun: My Shield
What’s on my mind this August 31st morning? As disastrous events continue to unfold around the world, I try to wash my mind of a sense of impending doom and rather focus on the goodness and love of people around the world. I am thankful for my faith in a loving, caring God who is my rock and, with my wife’s support, I am hopeful for the future. Faith and prayer are my shield against always circling fear and hopelessness.
my eyes rest
on the old crucifix
breaking news on TV
©️Al W Gallia
Psalm 4: 7 Many say, “May we see better times! LORD, show us the light of your face!” 8 But you have given my heart more joy than they have when grain and wine abound. 9 In peace I will lie down and fall asleep, for you alone, LORD, make me secure.
Lord, Hear our Prayers
America’s good people, those individuals that simply want the freedom to pray, learn, work, love, and raise families, need God’s intervention and help to straighten our road again. We must pray 24/7 that He will forgive us and teach us to forgive, compromise, work together, and live peaceably again.
around the world
churches filled with masked people…
quiet murmur of prayers
Al W Gallia 2021-08-09
Blessings and peace, my friends.
Surviving the Storms
Six years ago, while we were spending a stormy day at an Alabama coastal campground, I simply watched the rain and listened to the continuous thunder. Nature photography was my love at the time and I had no inkling then that, over the next year, I would also fall in love with haiku, a Japanese short form poetry which would greatly enhance my aging life.
thunder and lightning…
cuddled around the fireplace
an old man and his wife
Al W Gallia 08/07/21
The world has changed so much since then with social and political unrest, ongoing Covid pandemic, mask wearing, social isolation, and loss of family and friends. At our age, it is hard for my wife and me to adjust to this new stormy reality. But we are survivors and we have a strong faith and hope in our loving God and Redeemer, Jesus Christ. So we face the storm head-on without fear, staying focused on the Truth and Light. Blessings and peace, my friends.
Summer Respite
Nothing is more peaceful in the summer than a cypress swamp in the dead heat of day. The stillness is broken only by cicadas harmonizing, peepers chirping, and occasional egrets calling. Nature’s pungent perfume wafts on a random light breeze that gently moves a few lily pads. Sweat drips from my brow onto my camera. I love it! okay
in the duckweed
a gator’s eye twitches…
foraging wood ducks
©️Al W Gallia 2021
Thank you, Lord, for this moment of your peace in our troubled world.
Haiku: Lazy Summer Day
A hot mid-summer day at the beautiful Cypress Island Wildlife Preserve near Lafayette, Louisiana. Not much is stirring on this ‘dog day’ as I walk quietly along, under hanging moss, listening to the cicada chorus in full voice with a random peeper chiming in. It hasn’t rained recently and the earthy smells of sun baked swamp, moss, and duckweed drift heavy in air.
feeding whistling ducks…
a nearby alligator quietly
submerges
©️Al W Gallia
Trickles of sweat run down my neck, but I am happy passing the afternoon capturing nature’s unscripted haiku moments with my mind’s eye and camera. Such moments abound as Serendipity exposes them one by one with each turn in the path. I loose myself in nature,.. some call it ‘forest bathing’.
blazing sun…
the soundless swish
of a gator’s tail
©️Al W Gallia
Finally I am reminded of reality when a mosquito buzzes my face and a nearby owl hoots! A peaceful stillness gradually settles with evening cooling as my day closes with a chug of much needed water and a silent prayer of gratitude to God. In evening’s waning light, a young raccoon ambles across my return path with hardly a sidewise glance and our eyes meet for a brief second. I smile.
Searching for Serendipity 