summer walk

DECEMBER 10: OUR MONTH TO BE AT PEACE WITH THE WORLD by Colleen Keating

colleen General , , , , , ,

Saturday 10 th DECEMBER

Day 10

You are encircled by the arms of the mystery of God.   ~ Hildegard of Bingen

These words of Hildegard came to me when I saw the duckling being protected across the bridge . If a mother and father ducks protect their babies like these two did how much more would are we protected by a great Spirit of love? (Father is just ahead, leading the way)

 

Peace is not a noun;

it is a verb.

It re- quires us to spend ourselves in its pursuit. 

Our seasonal walk called a Ginko. Today it is the second Saturday of summer and we gathered as a group of haikuists to walk in the Japanese gardens in East Gosford  and write down our reflections and share our observation and drafts  as we work them into haiku. Our group called White Pebbles included meeting, coffee, walking and then our work together. This is the 10 th day of my birthday month and it was lovely the group sang Happy Birthday to me and surprised me with a birthday card. (How Beverley remembered I am not sure).  

The Edogawa Commemorative Gardens and  Gosford Regional Gallery is the venue for White Pebbles 

December is unfolding as a very special birthday month. Every day is special.

garden

harmony of  magpie song

and sözu

 

     

A sōzu is a type of water fountain used in Japanese gardens.

It consists of a segmented tube, usually of bamboo, pivoted to one side of its balance point.

At rest, its heavier end is down and resting against a rock.

A trickle of water into the upper end of the tube accumulates and eventually moves the tube’s centre of gravity past the pivot, causing the tube to rotate and dump out the water. The heavier end then falls back against the rock, making a sharp sound, and the cycle is repeated.

These fountains were originally intended to startle any herbivores, such as deer or boars, which might be grazing on the plants in the garden, but shishi-odoshi are now a part of the visual and aural design of gardens, and are used primarily for their aesthetic value.

 

Summer walk: The Poetry of Tuggerah Lake

colleen General , , , , , , , , , ,

The Poetry of Tuggerah Lake

 

 

Our walk begins on the beach,
low tide and the sea gulls
strutting on the edge,
a flotilla of pelicans glide
with the incoming tide.
A cormorant dives over and over
no chance of predicting where he’d surface.

Coffee from the barrister
at The Lake House is worth the anticipation
(no milk at the apartment so we were hanging out.) 

Two fisherman gut their catch at the sink- bench
and pelicans line up for their share of the feed.

Corellas paired up and sing  preening each other
some on the grass, some in the trees
near an awkward looking ibis pretending
to look elegant on a branch
where cormorants play notes
on musical staves

and on the lake
black swans silky as ballerinas
flaunt with their reflections
on the shiny mirrored lake.

Lap wings were out
squawking to claim their territory.
The council has fenced off
the sand dune to protect
nests of the Little Terns
who migrate from China for the summer
and we watch their acrobatics
around the dunes and seaweed.

 

The sandstone rocks glint
with their striations and swivels and colour
showing us more than any history
or geology text book could

Our signature spoonbill
we expect to see, is again there
as we cross the bridge near the lake,
with his caravan of ducks and hangers-on
waiting for him to disturb the mudflat.

The morning lake catches
the clouds, the sky and ever changing light
and on our way back as the tide turns
the sea spray against the rocks
sings alleluia to another day.