As I walked out my back door this morning I saw peach colored clouds in the sky. Within minutes the color disappeared. I quickly wrote this haiku in response:

peach colored clouds

the rising sun

removes illusion

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If you know some meteorology, you will be aware that clouds have no color at all because they’re made up of water. The colors come from reflecting sunlight and so the peach hue was an illusion. So are the white, gray, and blueish colors we often see. The rising sun removed one illusion in favor of another. The sun also dispels shadows which are also illusions. Normally haiku are not explained as such, instead being left to the reader’s interpretation but I thought this would be a good time to show how inspiration can be found in the most normal of things.

Nature is everywhere and humans are just as much a part of it as everything else. Unfortunately, Western thinking, as opposed to Eastern thought usually places us above and/or superior to nature, taking us out of the natural world. That I feel, is a mistake. The only way we can write good haiku, as well as survive as a species, is to place us where we belong. Right in the middle of nature. Living in the Gulf Coast region of Texas, as I do, had me thinking this morning that we only think of ourselves as superior to nature until a hurricane comes along and destroys everything. Suddenly we’re not so superior anymore. I have lived through hurricane Beryl, which was a category one, but was still severe with at least 74 to 95 mph winds. You really start to understand that nature is in control, not you!

So I recommend being observant of nature whenever you can. There are lots of clues to find as ammunition for great haiku. Keep writing!