Happy Valentine’s Day! In the spirit of romance and soft-edged things, we have haiku today by my friend Colleen Kaleda, who happens to be a professional journalist.
Why are Colleen and I so fond of writing haiku together? Because it’s a process of throwing away frippery and non-essentials (and you know how I feel about those things! 
)A good haiku reveals the lovely bones of a thing. Writing it is a joyful discipline. I burst out laughing when Colleen read Love On The Edge to me. I cracked up harder when she looked me in the eye and soberly recited Keeping Up With The Joneses. Television could not have been one-tenth as entertaining.
The lean elegance of haiku can apply to other areas of our lives. What is the essence of our happiness? Can we let go of items and habits that aren’t central to it? Dare to drill things down. Consider writing your own haiku and post it here in comments. Remember that syllables must be 5-7-5.
Love On The Edge
Missing your embrace
Remembering well your grace
Hoping to save face.
The Joneses
Keeping up with the
Joneses. Not me, oh not me.
Oh, foolish Joneses.
Square Dance
Round and round we go
Oh do si do, do si do:
Dancing out our woe.
Honduras
Thinking of jungles
And clinics, and good works.
Afterwards: the beach.
photo courtesy of Grant Macdonald
beautiful snowfall
drifting on the streets and walks
why will you not melt?!
Oh well done Laura!!