Last Friday I wrote about the big thing I was getting ready to do – swim the 3.6 km around the Busselton Jetty, in an annual race.
On Sunday I did that big thing – and came out of the water feeling accomplished and pleased that, in spite of having an
interrupted preparation/training this year, I still did a time I was really happy with.
But, that big thing, while it was lovely, was topped off by a seemingly small thing. After the swim, I ran into a friend (hello Julie!) I hadn’t seen for at least two years, who had also swum in the event. That was lovely in itself – but she told me that she had read my poem last Friday, and that while she was swimming it was in her head. Isn’t that just a lovely thing – to think of my swimming poem being in another swimmer’s head as she swam?
Later that day I had a text message from my mum (hi Mum!), who lives two hours away – and she wanted to tell me that she’d dropped in on my Poetry Friday post too, and that she’d been thinking about the poem – and me – while I was swimming. So there was my poem swimming around in Mum’s head too!
On Tuesday I posted my weekly Teacher Tuesday post, which was, perhaps unusually, not about poetry this week. But on Wednesday, at a work meeting, a colleague (and friend – Hi Jane!) told me how much she loved that post – and wished she’d had such a practical strategy when she was a classroom teacher. What a generous piece of feedback.
And later on Wednesday, a swimming friend (who probably isn’t reading this) stopped me after another meeting to make sure I was going to come swimming this morning – which I will be doing just as soon as I get this post up.
Four small moments – small things – that each, for me, meant a lot. People taking the time to say ‘I see you ‘ or ‘I see your work’. Maybe those small things meant so much because in the midst of all that loveliness I was swimming through a super busy week, with some tricky things to navigate. Or maybe those small things meant so much because, actually, small things are really big things in disguise.
I don’t know. But when I sat down to think about what to post today, I decided that small things could be encapsulated in small poems. And I remembered hay(na)ku – which I also call six word poems, and which I have shared before. So here are two hay(na)ku dedicated to those people who brightened my week with their small gestures:
A
poem swims
across lyrical seas.
2.
Your
unexpected compliment
made my day.
And then, because I had written two, I was on a roll and couldn’t help but write two more, about other small things that made me smile this week.
3.
A
stranger smiles.
My heart fills.
4.
Butterfly
flutters by:
a living flower.
If you haven’t guessed it , a hay(na)ku is a poem with really only one rule – it has six words (1 word, then two then 3). Small poems, butt hey can say an awful lot.
Now I’m off for that first-thing-Friday swim. How lucky am I? And later I’ll be swimming across the Poetry Friday waves, checking out what my poetic friends have to offer this week. The round up is hosted by Molly – swim on over and ride those waves.
Denise Krebs says
Sally, I love your sweet hay(na)ku. You sound at peace, with all being well! Congratulations on your swim. And butterflies as living and flittering flowers is my favorite idea today.
Molly Hogan says
I love how your poem was swimming along in others’ heads while you were swimming. There’s something deeply wonderful about that! This is such a lovely post of recognizing that seemingly small things send out ever-enlarging ripples. The hay(na)ku are the perfect form to encapsulate that. Great post!
PATRICIA J FRANZ says
And to add to the collide-ings from the week, I wrote about those small things too. It made me think all week about “pay attention”. Your hay(un)kus are a perfect way to do this. Thank you!
Karen Edmisten says
What a beautiful confluence of gestures, thoughts, and events! I feel buoyed just reading this. 🙂
Michelle Kogan says
Congrats
Sally swimming
on small wonders!
What a wonderful week you had, and I love all these hay(na)ku especially your
“poem swims
across lyrical seas.” and
Butterflies as “a living flower.”
Terrific, thanks!
Carol Varsalona says
Sally, I am swooning over your sweet and inspirational hay(na)kus. I plan on sharing your a couple of your poems and thoughts with the teachers I will present to on March 2nd. I hope they are interested in creating hay(na)kus with their students. (The slide will say: Small Poems Can Say Alot -Sally Murphy. I included one of my hay(na)kus also. Thanks for your great post!
Mary Lee says
Here’s to the little things that keep us going…and to the little poems that say so much in so few words! I love this form and will try teaching it to my after school kiddos!
Heidi Mordhorst says
The small things are really the big things–yes, and why I am a fan of short-form poetry! Good stories all, and congrats on your swimming achievement. I could go for a swim today…but not out in 28 F and not indoors–what would be the point?!
Bridget Magee says
Small things buoy us, don’t they? Love your hay(na)kus, too – a butterfly as a “a living flower” will float with me. Thank you. 🙂
Alan j Wright says
We launch our words and they float out and into the universe and then quite magically they come back to us in myriad ways. What wonderful feedback Sally. Your poem demonstrated it buoyancy by swimming alongside you and others. Great post, filled with gratitude and good vibes. Your follow up poems demnostrate how important it is that every chosen word plays its part. When you only have six words to make meaning with, it is critical that they each contribute. Well done.
Kay McGriff says
Yes, those small things are really big things in disguise–I love this idea. I also love your small poems and want to try some more. (I have small poems this week, too).
Linda says
Your post is so uplifting. Congratulations on doing the big thing and on all the small things (big things in disguise)! Also, thank you for introducing me to hay(na)ku. Your poems have inspired me to write some of my own!
Sally says
Thank you Linda. I look forward to seeing what you come up with!
Linda Baie says
Considering your full-to-the-brim week, Sally, the hay(na)ku with “across lyrical seas” is simple perfect. Congratulations for completing your swimming goal, too!
Sally says
Thank you Linda!
Irene Latham says
You swimming and your words swimming and this current of kindness you’re riding, and now sharing with us…lovely and inspiring. Thank you!
Sally says
And thank YOU Irene for dropping by.
Tabatha says
Thank you for this beautiful, grateful post!
Sally says
And thank you for visiting, Tabatha