Episode 23 - Helios Rides East to West

Common ground is found amongst people on the sand in the optimism of morning and the resolution of the setting sun.

A transcript of this Haiku Life podcast together with photos will be available on the mygreatergood.com website.

You can also follow me on Facebook and Instagram - Haiku Life Podcast.

Transcript

0:00

Hello and welcome to the Haiku Live Podcast, where we take a little exploration into some abbreviated moments. Haiku is a Japanese form of poetry. It is traditionally focused on nature and captures a fleeting moment within the space of three lines and a 575 syllable count. In a world so overwhelmingly immersive, a haiku is a moment of respite. These haiku are mine, moments of life, thoughts in the ether. This is the first in the Porto Rico series. Greeting the sun an instinct DNA deep in our ancestral soul. In ancient Greek mythology, Eos, the Dawn, opens the gates of heaven for her brother Helios. In a radiant crown of sunbeams, he drives a fiery chariot drawn by four winged horses across the sky from east to west. I wake up early at the beach. I want to see the sandpipers scuttle from foamy wavelets pushing from the calm depths of the sea awaiting morning. Mother of pearl sky reflected in the dawn washed sand. The eastern sky slowly brightening, water golden with the promise of a new day. I am not the only one. People flock, tussled, unbrushed hair and hastily dressed, eyes fixed on the east as a golden ball rises slowly with blinding splendour over the sea. In Puerto Rico, on Dorado Beach, I sit on a rock and watch the fiery hue through palm trees. A woman hurries along the path, joins me on the rocky outcrop, and as the orb shoots its first beams in our direction, she bows, lifts her arms, and bows a few more times. Namaste, the divine in me bows to the divine in you. Evidence of sun salutations date back to the Rig Veda, a Hindu scripture that's often referred to as the oldest holy book in the world. The sun enables all life on earth and is thus met with gratitude. There is an optimism that rises with the sun, and on the other side, a certain calm acceptance or resolution with quietly witnessing the sun set. In the years we lived in Manhattan Beach in California, we would walk out on the beach in the evenings, watch the sun slowly sink to the watery depths of the Pacific, us and others in silence surrendering the thoughts of the day, but optimistic in the knowledge Helias will ride again. Thank you for listening to today's Haiku Life Podcast. You can follow me on Facebook and Instagram. A transcript of this podcast can also be found on the mygreatergood.com website. Matate, see you later.