Poetry Corner: Serendipity

POETRY CORNER

– 10/03/18

Hosted by Kathabela Wilson

If we closely observe the small details of nature we are often delighted by serendipity in action. As if a leaf aims to put itself in the center of a round puddle, a seed pod curls to a perfect spiral, and a tide pool might form artistic designs. Also, on a personal level, with perspective, I see that the most important events in my life, as one thing led to another, have been serendipitous, a result of a surprising turn, a mistake, a fortunate encounter. Our insightful poets today observe and express poetically, the wonder of serendipity.

~ Kathabela

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Haiga by Sandi Pray.

Sandi Pray

Serendipity. A gift of home grown strawberries and a strawberry moon.

half a strawberry
the moon and I
licking our lips

spring light
a moment pauses
on my palm

river sunrise
everything that can
is singing

july has come
something I didn’t plant
is blossoming

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Window in the Clouds. Chicago, Sept 2018 (Photo – Kathabela Wilson).

Wendy C. Bialek

at stony brook pond
bright colours flap from a bush
where I point my lens
and shoot two hours
of the frito lay bag

from a shaking heart
she tells her story
a delicate flake falls
drifts over and
melts on her words

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Backyard catterpillar (Photo – John Rowe).

Gerry Jacobson

I watch it grow for weeks. Then I pounce, and cut its gorgeous head off. Well, it’s the first broccoli of the winter. Then steam it for lunch. But hello, what’s this? A steamed caterpillar hiding there. OMG another. And another. We end up shaking out twenty or more hiding in the florets. Cabbage moth, I suppose. My lunch companion is impressed. An organic grower, yes; but not always vegetarian.

that deeper urge –
to plant my seed
in soft damp earth

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Serendipitous growth at a Chicago area sidewalk (Photo – Kathabela Wilson).

Michael Henry Lee

how
serendipitous…
third rock from the sun

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Serendipitous: Quotes and Credits

Sandi Pray, living a quiet life in the wilds of the North Carolina mountains and river wetlands of North Florida, says: “Once a flower child, always a flower child. Retired now…I spend much of each day outside with nature where I’ve honed my senses to the extraordinary-ordinary of a moment.”

Wendy C. Bialek tells us: “I follow the serendipity of life, that’s what keeps my flow. Things that are not alive, come to have a life of their own, when I place them under the scrutiny of my lens. Banana slices become faces of dogs and cats, apples drying out, become laughing clowns, clouds become family settings and staring at bathroom floor tiles year after year…and endless supply of aha moments…” She lives in Arizona, a transplant from NY, via a short pit stop in Colorado.

Gerry Jacobson, of Canberra, Australia, is a member of the Canberra Organic Growers Society, and grows vegetables on a small allotment in one of the Society’s 12 organic gardens. He has told this true, but dreamlike story. only once before in Haibun Today, 2015. This time, serendipitously, for us. When one is dedicated to not using artificial pesticides, sometimes things happen.

Michel Henry Lee, of Saint Augustine, Florida, says: “From macro to micro, the surprising intersections of life.”

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♣ We welcome and encourage your response, especially in the form of a short poem, by leaving a comment below.