Haiku

This week in Ms. Alex's 5th grade class was poetry week. We learned about limericks, cinquain, free verse, and haiku poems.  I enjoyed teaching it much more than I expected.  You gotta love a kid's expression when you tell them that not all poems rhyme, and you would have loved my face when I asked for descriptive words and my kids came up with the words "awesome, cool, and fun!"  Think kids, think! haha

I personally didn't remember all the rules to writing haiku poems, so I had to do a little reading.  Let me fill you in.  A Haiku is a three lined poem made of 17 syllables- 5 in the first line, 7 in the second line, and 5 also in the last line. These poems are mostly about nature and the seasons.  I loved how a writer began to explain the inspiration behind these poems.  He explained that we experience "haiku moments" throughout our lives. Theses moments are small, almost missed experiences that happen in the hustle and bustle of life.  In a haiku moment you might experience a dragon fly landing on a flower petal or the smell of rain after an afternoon shower.  Whatever the moment is like, it takes your breath away.

I love this!  "haiku moments" are happening around us all the time.  We just have to look for them.  I have heard these moments called God-sightings, and I believe that is exactly what they are.  We read a free verse poem called Miracles, written by Walt Whitman this week.  He described a similar experiences.  The poem explains anything can be a miracle...the glance of a stranger, the grass underfoot, the smell of popcorn.  It just depends on how you see it.

So my prayer for us is this: that we see the "haiku moments" or the 'God-sightings" or the everyday miracles lying around us...They're everywhere, just waiting for us to experience them. Through these miracles God is expressing His character.  He desires to show us His love and compassion.  May we have eyes to see.

I'll finish with my Haiku moment this week....

Lightning crashes down.

The roar of heaven resounds

and all stand amazed.

I pray that you are in awe of the miracles around you.