HAIKU TO YOU TOO

This is not my Iggie, but looks just like him!

How perfect to find this!

By Photographer: George Rail

I stayed up very late last night watching the blooming moon move across an indigo tropical sky.  Right outside the window is a disreputable scrub pine tree, which arrived on the wind some five years ago and planted itself at the base of a white picket fence.  When it first made its presence known, I really didn’t believe the wind-blown seedling would survive the sweltering humidity of summer.  I was wrong. 

The pine tree is now almost twenty feet tall and offers abundant crops of magnificent miniature pine cones.  It also serves as a refuge for some fairly amazing birds and creatures.  Several weeks ago, three baby raccoons were merrily swinging from its branches without a care in the world. 

Last night, Iggie came for a visit.  Ig is quite regal.  The fierce dragon-like countenance of an Iguana is misleading.  They are really shy vegetarians who prefer to be left alone. Native Americans consider the great lizard to represent the Medicine of Dreamers. If you see a lizard, it may be telling you to pay attention to your dreams and their symbols.  Whether awake or asleep, dreaming is a portal to accessing your imagination which offers new ideas and creations. Delve a bit into the dreaming process and you will find the infinite power of the subconscious mind to process all of the recorded messages it holds concerning the events of your life.  All levels of awareness can be accessed through dreams. 

Calmly, with great dignity, Iggie climbed one long arm of the pine tree for a better look into my face.  We sat staring at each other for quite some time.  It was as though he had come to comfort my exhausted, self-inflicted ‘Monkey Mind.’  For those not familiar with the term:  Buddhist’s use this metaphor to describe thoughts that are unsettled, restless, confused and uncontrollable. Monkey Mind (the uncontrolled thought) rampages through the forest (the mind) jumping from tree to tree and creates a sense of tension and upset.   I don’t believe Iggie suffers from ‘Monkey Mind.’  He must wonder why I do.

As though I were receiving the Iguana version of a Vulcan Mind-Meld, the idea of writing a Haiku appeared in my thoughts.  It made some sense to me as Iggie does look quite like a highly educated Japanese Emperor who might delight in the arts.  Haiku comes from the Japanese tradition of poetry and is comprised of seventeen syllables in three un-rhythmed lines. 

I reached for a scrap of newspaper and the pen I keep on my terra-cotta camel-shaped table.  Monkey Mind was already calming down.  Focus had been diverted from untamed tantrums of negative thought to figuring out a Haiku for Emperor Iggie. Here is what appeared on the page:
 

Prehistoric toes

Climb silently up the tree

Wise face to the moon

 So next time the Monkey Mind takes you prisoner, give this a try.
 

Write a Haiku.
1st line = 5 syllables
2nd line = 7 syllables
3rd line = 5 syllables

Surprise yourself!

Allow the poet inside to swing from the trees in

The Forest of Imagination,
Kissing the monkeys as you go!
-Royce-