We will cross the bridge tomorrow, following bagpipes and the hearse.
Ancient stones shape two arches and guide the current’s flow. Last week’s storm brought a rush of silt and murky waters. Today the river is clear and calm. I see fish moving in and out among pebble mounds. The sun moves slowly across the scene, leaving shadows in its wake, but I remain on its golden side. My gaze moves to the road beyond. And I know, although I cannot see, the plots are there, just around the bend.
Heron waits, ready to pluck
fish flow ‘neath ancient bridge
life moves through to death.
Written for dVerse, a Pub for Poets….Haibun Monday #6. Gabriella Skriver shared several of her photos and asked that we choose one to motivate our writing for today. I loved this bridge one. A haibun begins with short compact prose and concludes with a haiku — the haiku cannot be a duplicate of the prose, but must be complementary. Generally, a haibun in the true sense of the form includes elements of nature and moves to an inimitable truth.
lillian the home poet 
Well, we are all moving, hopefully ever so slowly, in that direction! Hopefully the plots will remain out of sight ….. for a while yet! Very effective Haibun!
LikeLiked by 1 person
I agree! “We will cross the bridge tomorrow, following bagpipes and the hearse.
Ancient stones shape two arches and guide the current’s flow. ” — it evokes another age and gives the poem a somber feel.
LikeLike
Lillian this is a stunning haibun… love the thought of those plots on the other side… a little bit of Styx but yet not… and that smell of asphodel…
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you, Bjorn!
Asphodel, according to Greek legend – a plant associated with the dead. I always learn while engaging in writing and wonderful reading at dVerse. Can you tell me what Styx refers to?
LikeLike
Styx is the river you cross to reach the land of death
LikeLike
Ah….now I see. 😊 thanks!
LikeLike
I would say this is the very essence of haibun right here. So well done. That first sentence tells a whole story in and of itself. I love the double meaning possibilities in the word “plots”…there is much around the bend…and ending…new beginnings, darkness and sunshine, and more storms.
Perfection.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Oh my goodness – thank you so very much for these words. I am so thrilled to get a response like this from you. I loved the bridge photo and had just seen a heron here in Bermuda!
LikeLike
ohhh what a beautiful story around life and death – your opening line – gripping
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you, Trish. So nice to see your response here!
LikeLike
Love that first line of your prose and then the haiku of the heron plucking the fish is just gorgeous nature ending ~
I also see hope and acceptance of the cycle of life and death ~ Thanks for joining us for Haibun Monday ~
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you, Grace. I do enjoy this form. And yes….we do find in nature all the signs of life, death, renewal, hope….and we are in a state of wonder in terms of what is round the bend in life….
I so enjoy dVerse and shall be doing my reading and replies this evening. Really enjoy seeing what others have done!
LikeLike
You can’t see this down in lovely Bermuda, but I have just stood and gave you a deep, respectful bow. I so love the touches of nature – heron, little fishes in the water…all of it. We all are on the road to crossing that bridge and will one day cross and reach the other side. I hope my crossing will be as lovely as this spectacular haibun.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Oh Toni: You have no idea how much your reply means to me. I just joined dVerse in late December….and when you posted Haibun Monday 5….I’d never heard of a haibun. I only started writing poetry Feb 1, 2015 when I decided to take an online course….and then started my blog on March 1, 2015. So I read your explanation carefully, went to the links you provided….and really enjoyed the form! Although I wrote on that first haibun that it was ‘habit” because my autocorrect changes the word haibun to habit! 🙂 So — when I saw these photos…and read this was haibun Monday again, I thought of your instructions from the Japanese forms…and tried to follow them again. I did take liberty with the syllables on the haiku — which I normally do not do — but try as I might, I couldn’t get it down to the 5-7-5 so hoped this would “pass” muster. Anyway, as a former director of a Global MBA, with many students from Japan and have travelled three times to China, I do so appreciate your bow…and do so when I read your works as well. By the way….the pink flower atop your blog is so gentle and special.
Thank you again! 🙂 Truly appreciate your read and kind words!
LikeLike
Bless you. You have truly made my heart smile today. I am not picky about the 5-7-5 BTW. A lot of people do short-long-short is acceptable. The pink bloom is a flowering quince that blooms according to its own whim. It is a massive bush, part of a small rooting from a rooting from a rooting, etc. from the quince brought over when my family came over the big water in the early 1700’s. It seems to like to bloom in Jan. or Feb. Maybe it is into its original genetic make up. I am so glad you have been brave enough to take that course and start your blog. It is scary to put yourself out like that – more so than in the world of business. I used that photo for that haibun post. The bush is a friendly bush and many birds and small critters use it for shelter and safety and know there are always bits underneath for them to eat. They probably think it is some kind of magic bush! And again, the words aren’t rules, just suggestions for nuances in a haibun and to remind people the form is not American, European, ….etc. It is Japanese with different history and culture. I know you will appreciate those differences. The one thing I like to remind people of is that Japan has at least 50 different words for rain. I always enjoy how that seems to make people go…..wow. I have been working on 50 haiku and tanka and imagist poems over the past few years for those words. A never ending work in progress. I am so glad you found us! Thank you for being so special.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Wonderful Lillian…..I especially love your opening lines, which transport the reader right into the scene.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you so much, Sherry. I truly appreciate your kind words and the read. Happy I am….
LikeLike
This is a very atmospheric haibun! Your first lines give the tone and we can see the fresh water and the heron with you.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you, Gabriella. Apologies for not figuring out how to get the photo into my post — I usually can do it but somehow it wouldn’t “pick up for me”. Could you possibly email me the photo and I will insert it?
LikeLike
Done!
LikeLike
Very profound and inspirational – you have the soul of a poet.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Oh my, Suzanne. What an absolutely lovely compliment to start my day. Your words are so appreciated and make me blush. Happy I am sipping my morning coffee.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Matter not.. how much
human animals grieve
over.. fear
death..
Animals
Live iN
FliGht..:)
LikeLiked by 1 person
So glad to see you this morning, Katie.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Hi Lillian.. What a human response.. Thanks.. You warm my heart..:)
LikeLiked by 1 person
I like this very much, in particular the culmination of the last line.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you very much, Rosemary. So nice to read your reply this early morn.
LikeLike
I enjoyed the vision you painted with your words in your lovely haibun … so sensitive it resonates in me as I envision what tomorrow will bring.
LikeLiked by 1 person
So very nice to read your reply this morning as I sit sipping my morning cup, looking out at the beautiful waters of Bermuda.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Hmm sounds heavenly! In winter a move to a warmer clime seems like a good idea.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Oh yes, this is a beautiful haibun! How the river of life changes day by day and we deal with whatever’s around the bend as it comes. Love your haiku with its creatures at home in the water.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you so much, Lynn. 🙂
LikeLike