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0 of 3 Premium Clicks used this month SUBSCRIBE Print + Online Subscriber Activation | Register x Forgot Password | Need an Account? subscribe | newsletter | deals Home News Latest Stories Anthem hackers gain access to wide range of personal data 10 things to know for Thursday, Feb. 5 High winds, floods possible from incoming storms Displaying medieval genius What do you do with money saved from cheap gas? Education Speech and debate team claims Jean Ward title SOU board names officers, committees Parent files complaint against Ashland schools Learning on the job AHS speech and debate team headed north Environment Grant will help restore 'legacy' oak habitat in Southern Oregon and Northern California Mt. Ashland Ski Area crew dips to five Mt. Ashland Ski Area announces layoffs The top five conservation success of 2014 Protestors want Keystone pipeline plans stopped Business Where do Ashland’s top chefs go to dine? 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Editor's Notes: Agonizing uncertainty in runaway case ... Calendar: Thursday, Feb. 5 ... Anthem hackers gain access to wide range of personal data ... Editor's Notes: Agonizing uncertainty in runaway case ... Calendar: Thursday, Feb. 5 ... COMMUNITY CONTRIBUTOR The haiku of a chance meeting Distillation of ordinary thoughts yields extraordinary clarity — and feels good Comment By Susanne Severeid DailyTidings.com By Susanne Severeid Posted Nov. 10, 2014 @ 7:48 pm By Susanne Severeid Posted Nov. 10, 2014 @ 7:48 pm » RELATED CONTENT • On the importance of kissing • Ringing in the new year • With a little help from my friends • The haiku structure: Just three lines of five, seven and ... • A full life emptied by grief, refilled by living • Remembrance through poetry • Dalai Lama's words to schoolchildren were memorable » Social News I was sitting in one of my favorite Ashland coffee shops, sipping my mocha and writing on a lined, yellow legal pad. A man sitting in a chair across from me asked, “Are you writing poetry?” He had long, white hair, thick glasses. An Alan Ginsberg-type. I looked up and shook my head. “Nothing so grand as that.” I held up my pad for him to see. “Just a To Do list.” He looked a little embarrassed, which he needn’t have. I went back to my list. Go. Email. Do. Call. Then I had a thought. “What’s the tempo again for haiku?” I asked, suddenly. “Five-seven-five, 17,” he said, without missing a beat. “Well,” he went on, shrugging his shoulders and warming to the subject, “that’s the traditional. Though there’s a movement to change it to 14, but .…” “Thanks,” I said, “I’d forgotten.” “Do you want to hear a haiku I wrote the other morning?” he asked. Well, this was more interesting than adding “buy light bulbs” to my list. “Sure,” I said. He leaned back in his chair, eyes closed, and began reciting a few phrases about greeting the day, opening one’s eyes, being alive. It was pure, real, true. I told him so. Then, almost like a confession, I said, “Actually, it’s not my to-Do list. It’s a list of chores I’m making for my son.” “Ah,” he said and smiled. I looked down at the page of edicts I had been busy compiling. “But I think I’ll just write him a haiku instead,” I said. My perception had changed from linear columns of “must do’s” and chores and errands to images, shapes. To something else. I played with it for awhile, scribbling and crossing out words, counting on my fingers. I closed my eyes, too, and leaned back and I imagined what I wanted my son to do. I saw him raking the leaves into a big pile in the yard in my mind’s eye and fluffing up sheets high in the air as he made his bed. Rather than detailing every command in a stern voice, I found myself distilling what I, as his mother, wanted to say in only 17 syllables. “I’ve got it,” I said after some minutes. The man looked up. “Do you want to hear it?” He nodded, and I read it to him. He looked pleased and, after a bit more chatting, we each finished our coffee and went our separate ways. When my son and a friend came home from school that afternoon, I told him I’d made a haiku as his list. They laughed and looked at me as if I’d gone nuts. “Seriously, there’s your list,” I said, pointing to a piece of paper on the counter. “I wrote you a haiku.” “Okay,” he said hesitantly. They both listened as I read it aloud. Fall leaves on the ground Grateful for a room to clean Kind in word and deed “Well, he’s already flunked out on the last one,” joked his buddy. “But, dude, I think your mom wants you to clean your room.” “Yeah, and I was planning to pick up the leaves,” said my son as he pulled on some gardening gloves. They went outside, jabbing and shoving each other as teenagers do. I watched them raking the leaves through the window, and I felt content. And I thought of another haiku. A cup of coffee, A place, a chance encounter A new way to see. Author, speaker and performer Susanne Severeid lives in Ashland. For more, go to www.susannesevereid.com. The DailyTidings will begin running a daily haiku in the near future; check the comics page for its appearance and send in your haiku. By Susanne Severeid DailyTidings.com By Susanne Severeid Posted Nov. 10, 2014 @ 7:48 pm » Comment or view comments Reader Reaction » STAY INFORMED Email NewsLetter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. calendar Connect with DailyTidings.com Facebook Twitter RSS Back to top Reader Services Reader Services home Subscriptions Subscriber controls Contact us Submissions Photos Events Letters to the editor Corrections Alerts Email alerts RSS feeds Text Alerts Advertise Media Kit Home Products and services Ad rates Advertising contacts Mail Tribune Daily Tidings The Nickel Shop Our Valley Blogs Stay Informed Email newsletter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. Your privacy is important, read our privacy policy. © Copyright 2015 Local Media Group, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 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