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Thursday, June 27, 2024

Poetry Friday - Wabi Sabi - My Broom

 

created by Linda Mitchell


It's Poetry Friday, and Tricia Stohr-Hunt is hosting HERE on her blog, The Miss Rumphius Effect. Thanks for hosting, Tricia! 







           I've read a book that discusses Wabi-Sabi and have that special picture book of the same name. If you don't know it, here's a picture. The way some discuss the concept seems like an un-definition, a feeling, a 'thing', that is impermanent, something that is not necessarily thought to be beautiful, yet has beauty. I am not an expert, but trying out the feeling this time for the challenge by the Poetry Sisters, here at the end of June! 


          This month, the Poetry Sisters have given us this challenge: In June, we’re writing poems about Wabi-Sabi, with Wabi-sabi as the title. In Andrew Juniper's book Wabi Sabi: The Japanese Art of Impermanence, wabi sabi is defined this way. 

Wabi-sabi is an aesthetic that finds beauty in things imperfect, impermanent and incomplete. Taken from the Japanese words wabi, which translates to less is more, and sabi, which means attentive melancholy, wabi-sabi refers to an awareness of the transient nature of earthly things and a corresponding pleasure in the things that bear the mark of this impermanence.

             In his book Wabi-Sabi Simple, Richard Powell described wabi-sabi as a philosophy that acknowledges a lifestyle that appreciates and accepts three simple truths: "Nothing lasts, nothing is finished, and nothing is perfect." Will you write with us? Good! You have a month to craft your creation and share it in a post and/or on social media with the tag #PoetryPals. We look forward to reading your poems!  


          I'm unsure if it's okay to share a picture, too, but I have!


Wabi Sabi


My beloved broom

sweeps away

leaves blown onto the porch,

offers time 

      for thoughts of the day,

      the week,

      sometimes even a life.

It brings a sweet swish of a sound–

my background music.

 

Linda Baie ©



          Thank you, Poetry Sisters, it was satisfying to write about my broom. I am a sweeper at heart!



23 comments:

  1. Linda, what a sweet topic for the wabi-sabi poem. I too have a straw broom on my porch, so I can relate. It slows us down to think. I do love the "sweet swish of a sound" that comes from it. I also love that you wrote, "I am a sweeper at heart!"

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    1. Oh, thanks for sharing that you're a sweeper, too, Denise! Wonderful!

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  2. Linda, the broom adds a concrete element to the disappearing-ness of things...a little bit of intention that softly says: I think I'll send those [fill in the blank] away now --whether to help them on their way or to have the last word! And I love your comment to Denise: I'm a sweeper, too! That says it all!

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    1. I agree about the 'sweep', Patricia, my thoughts, too! Thanks for sharing that you also are a sweeper!

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  3. Oh, this is lovely! I never thought of my broom! It's a bit imperfect itself - a bit worn from the meditative sweep of cement - but fills the space of "attentive melancholy" that the wabi sabi form implies. Well poem-ed!

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  4. I love that "sweet swish of a sound." And I have that Wabi Sabi picture book too! I used to use it when I was a classroom teacher.

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  5. ahhhh... the temporary sweeping away of things... this is just lovely, Linda...

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  6. Thanks, Tanita, Marcie, & Liz. It was a busy day yesterday and I never returned to this. I hope your weekend is starting well!

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  7. Linda, your wabi-sabi poem is full of "attentive melancholy". It allows me to pause, slow down with my memories. I shall think of your poem as I sweep away memories of illness and the beauty of a single broom that offers beauty that I never thought of before. May each swish of your broom allow to add more sweet memories to life. Have a happy weekend with your family.

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    1. Swishing that broom will be good for you, too, Carol! Thanks for taking time to come by!

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    2. I agree, Linda. Thanks for finding time to respond.

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    3. Many thanks for your response, Linda. I think I shall pick up the broom today.

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  8. Linda, I love this. It seems just right for the wabi sabi concept, too! I'd love a nice porch to sweep. I suppose I could start with the patio...

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    1. Ha, ha! Some of "my" sweeping is on patios, too, Susan! Thanks, and enjoy!

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  9. Linda - I was just about to sweep the back deck but I sat down to rest just a bit. Picked up FZb and saw your lovely poem. Guess I'd better stand up and go sweep. 🤣🤣🤣

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    1. I'm Nancy Potter (not anonymous!). Back to the broom. 🤣🤣

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    2. Hey, Nancy, thank you for commenting. That's a big treat!

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  10. So many tasks are impermanent, aren't they? It's a good thing when we enjoy them, given that we do them over and over again! Nice ending :)

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    1. Thanks, Tabatha, I just finished up more sweeping this evening, as the clouds rolled in. We only had a bit of rain but welcome!

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  11. Thanks Linda for this “ sweet swish of a sound–” which I hear trailing from your sweet broom, and I love all the memories it stirs up too… Thanks also for the picture book “Wabi Sabi” I’ll have to check it out, I’m a fan of Ed Young’s art!

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    1. Thank you, too, Michelle. Thanks for coming by & I'm so happy you now know about the picture book! Hope you love it!

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  12. I think sweeping the porch is VERY wabi-sabi, at least the way I do it. I sweep around the spider that has a beetle many times its size in its web, and I can never seem to get all of the brown pine needles from our neighbor's tree out of every nook and cranny. Now that I have some half-off geraniums in pots on the porch, there will be a dusting of petals, too. Oh, well. It's all good!

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    1. Aw, thanks, Mary Lee. I believe we could be 'sweeping' friends! My porch seems to be a spider sanctuary, & I do leave it that way!

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