For our spring ginko White Pebbles haiku poets gathered atEdogawa Gardens at the Gosford Regional Gallery and Arts Centre on a glorious warm Saturday morning,14th September, 2024. Present wereBeverley George, Maire Glacken, Michael Thorley, Marilyn Humbert and Colleen Keating with apologies from Samantha Sirimanne Hyde, Pip Griffin and Gwen Bittiand KentRobinson.
The ducklings were not fluffy babies but teenagers and defying their parents who were trying to keep up for them.
We met in the Gallery’s cafe for a catch-up before a stroll through the gardens. Over coffee,Beverley gave us each some leaves she had collected to share, including a very soft, smooth acacia gun-metal leaf and a lemon myrtle leaf. Both stimulated lots of conversation about texture, aroma, colourshape and the patterns in the leaf, It reminded us to walk slowly and pay attention. And she challenged us to return with a leaf haiku.
We strolled the garden, enjoying the apricity – the warmth of the sunshine on our backs, the scent and colours of the azaleas and the business of ducks and koi carp sharing the pond and water features of the gardens. The duckling were a highlight following children around after food. The white pebbled garden was simply but beautifully raked.
Then we gathered to share our thoughts and words.Beverley said how happy she was to see so many WhitePebble haikuists being published in Echidna tracks and encouraged us all to sendhaiku this month in for the next edition. We then sharedour haiku. Wemaking suggestions to improve our haikuNext, we considered the haiku and images that had been gathered on the garden walk earlier. This proved an extremely productive exercise. Michael shared his new working haiku on a small coloured card which he distributed as a gift for us to keep. We all liked this idea and decided to bring copies of our work to hand around next time. A few ideas that enriched my days:
lemon-scented gum we drink mugs ofbilly tea by the campfire
Colleen Keating
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abstract art
pond wriggles with koi
around the ducks
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We concluded the White Pebbles Spring meeting 2024 with our hope to meet on the second Saturday 14th December for our Summer meeting. (just a date to put in our new 2025 diaries when we get them –our Autumn meetingjust for this one time will be on the third Saturday 15thMarch2025 )
still as a statue
a water dragon stops
and stills passers-by
Due to unforeseen circumstances, with weather threatening safe travel, the White Pebbles summer meeting scheduled for December 9th was deferred to January 13th.
Six of our members were present and we were joined by welcome guest, Pip Griffin. Michael Thorley and Samantha Hyde were unable to attend this time and they were missed.
We gathered at 10 a.m. for a catch-up and refreshing cuppa, before setting off on our silent ginko around the garden, looking appreciatively at wider landscapes and into small spaces, listening to natural sounds, sniffing the perfumes of leaves and blossom and alert to the shifting patterns of shadows and reflections.
At 11 a.m. we gathered at an oval table in a quiet room we hire at each meeting for workshopping.
Each member had heeded the suggested worksheet distributed in advance of the meeting, and shared haiku they brought with them relevant to that, in addition to those jotted on the ginko. As always, the sharing of haiku and respect for each other’s work was paramount to the enjoyment of the day and we look forward to our autumn meeting in the gardens.
left to right: Pip Griffin, Gwen Bitti, Marilyn Humbert, Colleen Keating, Kent Robinson, Beverley George, Maire Glacken
White Pebbles Spring Meeting and Ginko 2023
White Pebbles haiku poets gathered at the Edogawa Gardens at the Gosford Regional Gallery and Arts Centre on Saturday morning, 16th September, 2023. Present were Maire Glacken, Marilyn Humbert, Gwen Bitti, Colleen Keating, Beverley George and Kent Robinson, with apologies received from Samantha Sirimanne Hyde and Michael Thorley.
A glorious spring day greeted us. Ducks and koi carp shared the pond and water features of the gardens. As they fed the ducks, children’s laughter echoed among the beautifully manicured flora. Spring blooms of every hue brightened the walkways.
We met in the Gallery’s cafe for a catch-up before a stroll through the gardens. Over coffee, Marilyn Humbert, advised us that, in order to refine our sense of observation as we strolled, we look into the small spaces – distill whatever we saw, and trust ourselves and our senses as we composed our haiku. We strolled the garden, feeling the warmth of the spring sunshine on our faces. The scent of blooms bursting all about and the joy of being immersed in birdsong were intoxicating.
Now it was time for a round table meeting in the niche beneath the art gallery. At the beginning of the meeting our dear friend and valued member of White Pebbles, Gail Hennessy, who sadly recently passed, was remembered fondly. The round table about which we gather is extremely significant to our group. Around it we may share ideas and each single poet is as one with all others. How fortunate we feel, that White Pebbles is such a mutually supportive group!
Beverley George distributed for purchase “under the same moon”, the Fourth Australian Haiku Anthology, in which several White Pebbles members have haiku. (Many thanks to Vanessa Proctor for furnishing Beverley with copies of this fine anthology in advance of our meeting.)
Echidna Tracks 11 was spoken of, with congratulations to all White Pebbles poets who feature therein.
We then moved on to the business of the day. Beverley had asked that we each bring a haiku that had inspired us in the early days of our haiku journey, as well as one of our own that we had composed in those early days. Matsuo Basho featured strongly as an early influence to many.
Next, we considered the haiku and images that had been gathered on the garden walk earlier. This proved an extremely productive exercise. Beverley presented some haiku that Michael Thorley had sent in. Thank you, Michael. Your sensitive haiku were a fine addition to our meeting and very much appreciated by all.
Marilyn Humbert had prepared a presentation entitled “The Art of Discovery”. She advised us in composing haiku to observe light and shade at different times throughout the day, different seasons, different weather conditions, different sounds and different moods. And to be aware of the ephemeral things – feathers, stones, bird calls, the shapes of twigs and leaves, tree trunks and bark, rough and smooth. To trust our senses. Helpfully, Marilyn supplied a number of examples of haiku written from different points of view. Many thanks to Marilyn for a most informative and thought provoking presentation.
At this point, towards the end of our meeting, we acknowledged our members who have recently had books published.
* Gwen Bitti has had a novel entitled “Between Two Worlds” published by Ginninderra Press. Gwen spoke of the writing of “Between Two Worlds” and furnished each White Pebble poet with a sachet of fragrant herbs, a snippet of silk and one of hessian to enhance sensory perception, as she spoke.
* Colleen Keating’s carefully researched book, “The Dinner Party” was also published by Ginninderra Press and we enjoyed hearing about it.
* And we recalled that only recently, in 2022, Samantha Sirimanne Hyde’s book “The Lyrebird’s Cry” was published.
Congratulations All!
This concluded the White Pebbles Spring meeting 2023. The general sentiment was all are looking forward to our summer ginko.
Kent Robinson
Back, L to R: Colleen, Kent; Front, L to R: Beverley, Maire, Gwen, Marilyn
After visiting the Powerhouse Museum to be part of the final exhibition before it closed for years, to be renovated, we bought a take away coffee and walked into Darling Harbour to visit The Chinese Garden of Friendship. Something I had not done for years.
We did what the brochure said “Take time to explore the mystery and magic,allowing the Garden to gradually reveal its many secrets and hidden stories.”
We found a table near the lake in weeping willow shade to have our picnic with our coffee and watched the water dragons around our feet and pop up on roa rock. We watched a turtle come out of the water and sit on a rock , the gold koi .
It was lovely to picnic and wander through this small piece of tranquillity in a a busy noisy city. But here nothing is placed by accident. The whole gardenis based on the Taoist principles of Yin-Yang and the five elements of earth, fire, water, metal and wood.
Chinesephilosophy places a lot on the flow of qi which we translate as energyor life force and the garden is built with the idea of the flow of qi as we walkedobserving thebridges, plants, trees,sculptures, rocks, secret corners, pavilions meanderingstone steps have been meticulously chosen and placed to capture the qi of the five elements, Feng Shui and the universal forces that bind them together.
We experienced the gazing outfrom themountain, from different perspectives of The Pavilions.We experiencedthe balancing opposites in the garden, rockdefying gravitythe constrasts of bonsai trees and conifers , the sound of cascading water and the stillness of the lake , the short soft mondo grass beneath the sturdy long-stemmed bamboo and the beauty of the large pink lotus lilies flowering on the lake.
Below the Dragon Wall is the pool of reflection where many years back I had a moment of epiphany . Sitting their for quite awhile pondering the reflection of dragons and the walland counting coins it was a shock to suddenly see the clouds floating along in the water. It was one of those moments when you realise what you see is only a minimum of what is there. So easy to forget we have only a small part of the whole .And it was one of those wow moments as the shallow pool became deeper and deeper
“The jewel of the Garden, The Gurr , also known as The Clear View Pavilion , sits at its highest point. Decorated with a lavish golden roof intricate wood carvings and an ornate lantern symbolising prosperity , it has a perfect view of the whole landscape.
In the bush I hear the trees ferns, palms and moss whispering their wisdom renewing my being healing my soul
– Colleen Keating
After winter
Still dark enough to note the morning star
she walks again the bush track. A few magpies
fossick in frosty grass for first feed. Swallows dart
among the insect motes off the dandelion spent heads
and fly back to perch on telegraph wires.
It is still cold. Apple-crisp and silver.
The clouds open as silk fans, their bone
displayed like veins of a feather. The magpies
sing now from branches above, and she thinks too
how their morning song is her Delphian oracle.
She walks the track that’s a bracelet of charms
taps a branch watching a spangle of diamond–
dew drops light the way while the early light captures
a scarred tree trunk hollowed black like Munch’s Scream.
A cockatoo perched above glints with the gold
of a mohawk fiend, soon in flight it will have the air
of a Tiger Moth in a opal-tinted sky. She has always loved
the walks here, the brush turkey stepping from
its scratchy music of an old LP, the whipbird checking
on its mate from the high river gums, the wrens chirping
from the safety of undergrowth, yet today it is a rupture
of spring that sings a rhapsody of song: purple milkwort
ravishing attention, pink wax Eriostemon, wedding veil
showers of boronia and orange pea plants sitting
in their spiky foliage. There is joy in watching the earth
re-awaken, the inevitable journey out of a winter
segueing towards summer. Ahead she can see
why she came – a wild display of flannel flowers. Petals
still mostly closed – their green tips a rising choir ready to sing
an Alleluia chorus. Open petals like earth-bound stars have
the velvety feel of a childhood dress and sparkle in the shifting
light. She loves those Banksia trees that shade the groves
flamboyant with rough bearded seed pods like sleepy-eyed owls
wisely peering down: with the zephyr of a breeze there’s
a shuffling sound as if feathers are being ruffled or a yellow
skirt swinging through dried grass. The sun now on the shoulder
beams into the canopy of green and she will walk back
her mind pianissimo as a gentle Brahms largo passage
alert to nature watching, her enlivened step.
Coming to learn to be fully human consider my body a guesthouse
When you breathe deeply and go inward,
make space for whatever wants to come to visit your guesthouse today.
What do you notice rising up in you?
What could it be helping you accept or understand?
What has your grief taught you?
The Guesthouse
This being human is a guest house.
Every morning a new arrival.
A joy, a depression, a meanness,
some momentary awareness comes
as an unexpected visitor.
Welcome and entertain them all!
Even if they’re a crowd of sorrows,
who violently sweep your house
empty of its furniture,
still, treat each guest honorably.
He may be clearing you out
for some new delight.
The dark thought, the shame, the malice,
meet them at the door laughing,
and invite them in.
Be grateful for whoever comes,
because each has been sent
as a guide from beyond.
Jalaluddin Rumi
from Rumi: Selected Poems, trans Coleman Barks with John Moynce, A. J. Arberry, Reynold Nicholson (Penguin Books, 2004)
Go outside for a walk
somewhere in a garden
with trees or plants
focus on soaking up the oxygen
given out by the greenery nearest you
allow yourself to relax
and touch love in the air
in the steps that you make
in the communal energy of living things
Feel the warmth in the sunshine
the brush of air on your skin
give yourself permission to taste it
bit by bit
whisper your gratitude. and bow deeply.
“This body is not me; I am not caught in this body,
I am life without boundaries, I have never been born
and I have never died.
Over there, the wide ocean and the sky with many galaxies
all manifests from the basis of consciousness.
Since beginningless time I have always been free.
Birth and death are only a door through which we go in and out.
Birth and death are only a game of hide-and-seek.
So smile to me and take my hand and wave good-bye.
Tomorrow we shall meet again or even before.
We shall always be meeting again at the true source.
Always meeting again on the myriad paths of life.”
-Thích Nhất Hạnh, No Death, No Fear
with reference to Thich Nhat Hanh
and Sister Dang Nghiem in ‘Flowers in the Dark
“The Zen master Ling Chi said that the miracle is not to walk on burning charcoal or in the thin air or on the water; the miracle is just to walk on earth. You breathe in. You become aware of the fact that you are alive. You are still alive and you are walking on this beautiful planet. The greatest of all miracles is to be alive”
~ Thich Nhat Hanh
The International Plum Village Community of Engaged Buddhism announces that our beloved teacher Thich Nhat Hanh has passed away peacefully at Từ Hiếu Temple in Huế, Vietnam, at 00:00hrs on 22nd January, 2022, at the age of 95. We invite our global spiritual family to take a few moments to be still, to come back to our mindful breathing, as we together hold Thay in our hearts in peace and loving gratitude for all he has offered the world.
As the last blog stated these days, many people are feeling overwhelmed and exhausted.
Here are some nourishing, replenishing, restorative actions we can take when we feel drained:
Go for a walk
Take a pause to breathe and notice the moment.
Take a nap
Give yourself a day of spaciousness.
Spoil yourself with a moment outside in the air, with a cup of coffee taken to the garden, with a few hours doing something you always wanted to do, with a holiday away, a retreat, a spa place, etc. from 5 minuits to 5 days every small moment is a gift to you.
Take a tea break with a little ritual about it.
Sit and feel the sun on your back.
Lay down , close your eyes , relax every muscle in your body and just feel nourished by your brath
Be kind to yourself , serching out and being aware of this every day.
Remember the rule in an areiplane – the adult /parent, must always buckle in before they buckle in the child. Your might think it would be best to attend to the child first but you must be safe firstly to keep the child safe. Hence you must care for yourself firstly to care for others.
Thank you to Zen Habits and Leo Babauta for his many great writings which I adapt for my friends now for all of us.
