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December 14, 2013

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Poetry

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Tree of Life Haībun

Used with permission of Managua Gunn

Used with permission of Managua Gunn

I dream here in this place of ancient magic, listening to the humming telephone wires. Oil wells beat like a thousand hearts. My roots stretch beneath the hill, into the frozen past. The dry desert sands cannot warm the hidden place where the Garden of Eden still flourishes, hidden from man these many thousand years. I was blown to this hill as a seed, more than 400 years ago.

mother lost in time
father wind threw me from her
alone in this place

A child fell, cutting his knee on a pottery shard. His blood watered the sand, pushing me into the soil. In his brief pain, he called to Enki, the Water God, who granted a year of beating rain. Was I blessed by Enki to outlive my kin or cursed to burn in the sun, gaped at by tourists?

Shajarat-al-Hayat
symbol of forgotten time
outliving all loves

 Copyright 2013 Brenda Davis Harsham

Inspired by the weekly Haībun challenge.
References:
http://www.worldtoptop.com/mysterious-tree-of-life-bahrain/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tree_of_Life,_Bahrain
http://www.bahrain.com/en/vp/things-to-do/top-ten-sights/Pages/Tree-of-Life.aspx#.UqvbGyihDzI

79 thoughts on “Tree of Life Haībun”

  1. This haibun is a stunning piece of writing. I’m so glad you stopped by my blog because it led me to yours. “Cameron’s Look of Love” is my very first haibun and I wonder whether it meets the necessary requirements.

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    • I will come back and look again. I’m not a big believer in rules unless safety is involved. Or unless one is a beginner. Sometimes breaking rules too soon makes you miss what the discipline of following them could reveal. So much has been written of haibun, and I am not an expert. I have been writing one a week for several weeks, though. And it is a joy. This particular one is one of my favorites.

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  3. You research and then write…. sounds simple but my goodness! the tales you weave and your imagination! You are a bright star, Brenda…….

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  5. your readers have written all what i think about your absolutely a great haibun. ☺ i really like the short challenges as they get the readers right to the point. i love how you took us from the seed and in quick second we are in the land of legends. ♥

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  10. Reblogged this on ladybluerose and commented:
    the wind whispers
    tree bend and sway to hear
    a conversation begins
    if one listens to the wind….
    Brenda’s tale of “The Tree of Life” Haibun
    ( and Haiku) is just simply Beautiful!
    Please stop by, you will enjoy her Magick, for she spins and weaves
    it into words of enchantment…
    Take care…You Matter…
    )0(
    maryrose

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  11. just WOW…
    you made something so sacred come alive
    but then, I think you have known the story before, perhaps
    in another lifetime….
    Brenda this is really special, well all yours are magickally special
    but this one is a WOW and *sigh* in which I wish I had written..
    ( trees do that to me…)
    do you mind if I reblog?
    Thank you for sharing….
    Take Care…You Matter…
    )0(
    maryyrose

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  16. Evocative, poetic and once again written with real style. I enjoyed this immensely and once again found new learning. I never knew of Shajarat-al-Hayat but can now add it to my own mental hard drive. Thank You.

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    • I found it a delicious and mysterious subject, and really enjoyed writing it. 🙂 Plus I enjoy research. This time it went quickly. Thanks for commenting. Warmly, Brenda

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    • As does mine. 🙂 I had never heard of the tree of life before 10 pm yesterday. LOL I like this big world we live in with the different threads of culture crisscrossing in a dizzying way. 🙂

      Peace and Joy to you and yours, Brenda

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  18. I haven’t seen the prompt yet… But I think I am going to visit the links you provided. I remember reading a science fiction story long ago about ‘trees’ passing on the are of ‘looming’ – you know they look to be in the distance yet get closer as we get near to them. Anyway on poor tree got caught in the ‘headlights’ of a car crash. And could ‘loom’ no more.

    I do hope to post a haibun today or tomorrow sometime. Thanks again for all the informative links and being the voice of the ‘tree’.

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  19. This is intriguing! 🙂 Random circumstances, where a tree may end up. A little like our own lives sometimes! Or – maybe it’s not just random – a hidden plan maybe!? It’s a subject many will argue on for a long time. I like hearing the voice of a tree, it’s a comforting thought that they may have thoughts and feelings!
    And strangely, by sheer coincidence (or maybe not!) I just finished writing a fantasy short story for a writing challenge on a writers site I’m on, about a tree speaking about human love, called The Tree Of Love!! The tree’s must be wanting us to speak for them perhaps!? 😀

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      • Oh yes, if you like! 🙂 I haven’t uploaded it to their website yet, but when I do, I’ll come back to this comment and post the link. You might even like the site too, it’s a friendly little place, but does take a little time. I’m not on there as much as I was, never seems to be enough time in the day for it all!! 🙂

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      • Well, here’s the link to my Jottify page! http://jottify.com/writer/wordmuse/ The story is called The Tree Of Love and it’s the last one I posted, so it’s at the top of list of my posts on there. I wanted to call it, A Little Fear Is Necessary, but because it was for a competition for stories about a tree, I gave an obvious title so that anyone aware of the competition would know by the post name it was an entry for the challenge. I will probably put it up on my blog at some point, but the speed I’m posting at the moment – it could be a while! 😀

        If you have the time, you could open a page there and enter your tree story! The site isn’t as busy as it used to be, so I’m sure Terri who’s running the competition would be very pleased to see another entry. Just click on the link at the top of my story called December Challenge and it will take you to the Community Page where the details are. If you did want to enter, it’s best to copy and paste your text from a document from your computer into a post on Jottify, as the (Upload A Work) doesn’t work any more! 🙄

        Enjoy the story!! 😀

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          • Sorry Brenda, I forgot to tell you about the ink pots! Have replied to you on the community page underneath your comment/link on how to give ink pots. Good to see your post up there!! It does get very quiet on there this time of year, almost completely died over Christmas last year! But come late January – February it should recover.

            And what was that about your piano? I meant to pick up on that in my last comment. It’s being tuned – does sound exciting, I’d love to have a piano, but no room in my little flat! So you’ll be playing and singing songs round the piano in your house this year? Sounds like a perfect Christmas!! 😀

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            • Flat is the word for my piano. I adopted a free one, and the tuner took forever with the cleaning, and has started getting it in shape, but it’s not a great one. Blogging doesn’t pay much… We will sound like those pianos in old Westerns. LOL

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  21. This is a beautiful piece. 🙂 I am not going to throw many impressive words/statements at you….but just say it is simply wonderful. Both haiku are lovely but I especially love the last one. 🙂
    Thank you for another stunning piece.

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    • Thanks, I really enjoyed this one. The prompt required it to be very short, so I was stringing words like glass beads, keeping it very short. I can’t help telling a story, though, it’s my nature.

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  25. Amazing research – and I’ll say again, its the way it is written that works. You gave me goosebumps reading this, and brought back memories and more. The way you are your story here is wonderful, and the interweaving of the elements and sacred legends is so nicely done. The 1st haiku..stunning..the 2nd, am in awe, it is almost as if you are standing there telling it to me in Bahrain! This haibun would be so nice on a wooden panel near the tree. I notice my comments are not coherent, but it is quite an emotional reading!

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    • I really enjoyed this one, and it was such a great subject. I wanted to write more, but I had to cut and cut to keep toward 123 words as it was. In the end, though, the cutting created a better piece, like the whole piece was a haiku, every word carefully chosen. Thanks for your comment, I’m glad my piece took you back to Bahrain. Warmly, Brenda

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