NANO ZEN

As often seen in my haiku, I’m very fond of Eos, the Greek Goddess of Dawn and Selene, Greek Goddess of the Moon. The dawn and the moon are powerful moments and symbols, constants in our lives.

I love the early dawn, with its changing hues from deep navy blues, purples, reds, orange, to bright light. I like to walk and/or run early to feel this moment. It is a shame that most of the world are still silent and fail to experience this beauty. Mind you the silence of dawn is one of the draws for me to rise early and go forth before others despoil it.

Similarly with the moon, it is a strong symbol in many mythos. For myself, having travelled and lived overseas from family and friends, the Moon for me as a teen became a messenger to whom I could voice a thought of affection to give to loved ones living far away. Late night or early morning walks with Baka often accord many wonderful sights of Selene’s visage.

Now I welcome a new goddess to worship and praise in verse, Konohana in Japan is The Blossom Princess, Goddess of Spring. I hope to voice many a haiku in tribute, though the blooms of mimosas, wisteria, judas tress have now past, leaving only the jasmine. I think she and I will become good friends.

April was a so-so month for inspiration, despite the onset of spring. Normally with spring comes a plethora of thoughts, ideas, and emotions that serve as a well spring of muse. Even my presence on twitter has been muted. I suppose I’m just going through one of those over-saturated phases with regards to computers and communication (or maybe its global warming). This happens I find every so often. I suppose it comes from a professional life behind a computer, in addition to using it for communication, games, radio, music, news, and films.

I really should get out more.

What is it about hot drinks like tea, coffee, hot chocolate, and gluvine that settles the mind and body at the start or end of the day? Is it simply that it takes time to cool before we can drink; time were we can reflect on the tasks ahead or past; time to just sit and be.

I love thunderstorms. Though when I was a child staying at our chalet in Quebec in summer, we would often experience long violent storms without any power for several hours. It used to scare me when I was very young, but over time I found the sound and display of nature’s fireworks impressive. @ShawnaCoronado tweet though evoked a double entendre of Thor as a plumber complete with butt crack.

photo by @thechannelc and used under the terms of the Creative Commons

As always I never have a camera to capture the scene of my thoughts here in Cannes, but @thechannelc has a beautiful moment she captured during her trip to New Zealand that fits just as well.

A Sunday evening twilight alone and tweeting by candle light and laptop glare; supper, wine, haiku games, and random snippets of on the spot philosophy (in French no less), more wine.

I was a little maudlin by the end of that evening and thinking way back to when our family used to have an holiday apartment in the mountain village of Leysin, Switzerland (tourist office). How at night there are no lights to wash out the vast view of the stars, how air is so clear and fresh, and the water like crystal and sensuous across the tongue.

Of course come next morning, I felt a little naughty, and who better to share a naughty thought with than an online friend I’ve never meet like @amykate. Not sure she caught the double entendre though of the haiku.