3.06: A Grateful Goodbye – The Haiku Pond
Welcome
Greetings and welcome to The Haiku Pond. A place to ponder life through haiku. My name is Anthony Nanfito and I’m the caretaker of the Pond.
Each season I share haiku written by myself and others. Each episode features haiku centered around a pre-chosen theme. You can learn more at http://thehaikupond.com.
If you’re ready, let’s prepare for our visit. Take a deep breath and dive in.
Theme
The theme for this visit is fire and will feature haiku written by myself and others.
A Haiku & Reflection from Me
chorus of crickets
fireflies and stars
a cool summer night
I wrote this haiku a few years ago while camping near Chiang Dao, Thailand. This particular occasion marked the first time I witnessed fireflies in person. To say they’re magical doesn’t quite do them justice. But indeed they are quite magical in appearance and presence. They float through the darkness of the night, flashing their neon green light at random intervals — creating a dazzling spectacle.
As I watched them I succumbed to the irresistible trance of these drifting fireflies and everything seemed to slow down. I got lost in the hundreds of bobbing neon green flashes that were set against the backdrop of a silhouetted mountain and the starry night sky.
As I watched this scene play out in front of me, I realized the importance of letting go and letting the whims of the universe take me where they may. We can direct ourselves where we want to go but more often it’s better, and easier, to go with the flow. Living in each moment, taking it in as it is, and doing our best to flash our colors in a sea of darkness.
This is the lesson I learned from fireflies. This is the lesson I learned from this haiku. What light do you use to guide yourself through the darkness?
Share your thoughts by leaving a comment on the blog or YouTube video, or send an email to thehaikupond at gmail dot com. Hearing your thoughts makes this more of a conversation and I look forward to hearing what lessons you’ve learned.
Listener Submitted Haiku
Now, let’s hear from our listeners. Each haiku will be repeated twice so you can fully immerse yourself within it. If you’d like to submit a haiku for a future episode, please visit thehaikupond.com for details. Alright, let’s begin.
From Robert Kingston:
his singed hair
in the open fire
hot potatoes
From Stephan:
Address to the Gods of Fire:
Combustion, my lords
Speak, please, I’ll do what you ask
We will burn the world
From C.X.Turner:
crackling fire
all the memories I have
and will never have
From Susan Andrews:
the raging whirling dance
of heat and drought
wildfire
From Jerome Berglund:
roman god
meets the hare
ground test fireball
From Tracy Davidson:
toasting his feet
on the open fire…
torture chamber
From petro c. k.:
campfire
reflections
in a row of eyes
From Katherine E Winnick:
sandlewood burning
fleetingly the flame flickers
– a slight breeze
From Chithaloori Sathyanaaraayana:
fire place –
memories one by one
into ashes
From Mark Scott:
summer bonfire
sharing stories of our first
that have long since past
From Herb Tate:
exhausted candle
another year of being
one again
From Kimberly Kuchar:
dog sniffing the air
flames licking
at the steaks
From Kerry J Heckman:
history buffs around the fire
a different kind of
war stories
From Kan Yamamoto:
on a starless night
a firefly larva glows
among autumn dew
From B. L. Bruce:
fire-scarred trees
the forest still standing
a lesson on resilience
From 薫音 (Kaon):
flickering flames
time flies
backward
From Ali Znaidi:
silent lips…
simply the crackling
fire of her lipstick
Special thanks to all the poets who submitted their haiku for this episode. It’s an honor and a pleasure to read them. If you’re listening and you’d like to connect with these poets, visit the show notes linked in the description of this episode for links to their websites or social accounts.
Switching to a Monthly Format & The Theme for the Next Visit
Before I get to the next them a quick announcement.
The impromptu break I took these past few weeks not only gave me time to rest and recover, but it also gave me time to reflect. I really would love to produce episodes every two weeks, but the reality is I just don’t have the time right now. So I’ll be switching to a monthly format.
Looking ahead, I’ve decided to skip the month of December since I’ll be doing some traveling for the holidays so we’ll have one more episode in November before the end of 2022 and then return in January of 2023 with an episode each month.
The theme for our next visit, in November, will be ‘earth’ and your haiku needs to be submitted by 11:59pm Bangkok Time (GMT +7) on Friday November 18, 2022.
Thanks so much for your support, patience, understanding, and kind messages over the past few weeks. I hope you too take some time at the end of the year to reflect and rejuvenate before we ring the new year.
Speaking of gratitude, I want to say a HUGE thank you to Kimberly Kuchar, C.X. Turner, and Susan Andrews for your financial contributions on my Buy Me a Coffee page. I’m humbled and honored. Your contributions help keep the lights on and the mic recording.
If you’d like to make a contribution to help support the podcast and receive a special shout out in a future episode, visit buymeacoffee.com/wordsbyfifi.
That’s all for this episode. See you next month. Wherever you are in the world, take care of yourself and, if you can, someone else.
Thanks for listening. See ya next time!
Thanks for visiting The Haiku Pond. If you’ve been inspired by what you’ve heard, please share the show with a friend.
For podcast updates, join the mailing list at http://haikupond.ck.page/ or follow the podcast on Twitter @TheHaikuPond.
For inquiries send an email to thehaikupond (at) gmail (dot) com. Thanks for listening. See you next time.
Haiku Ponderings
A Haiku Collection for Pondering Life
My haiku poetry collection is available as an ebook on 10+ retailers worldwide!
This collection contains over 100 haiku and 5 mini essays focused on Mindfulness, Gratitude, Compassion, Love & Loss, and Give & Forgive. If you listened to the first season to The Haiku Pond podcast, then some of these haiku will sound familiar. I used the same themes for both the ebook and the podcast. More details here.
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