The Mouth of the Volcano - Inspiring Haiku
All pictures taken in 2014, exploring volcanoes on the island of Lanzarote.
moss lips curled in the gale,
watching barren plains.
There is something visceral about the volcanic landscape of Lanzarote which pulls you back to reality. Hiking these calderas - sharp lava rock biting through shoes while cold wind swept cruel peaks - reminded me of the frailty of all we build and the house of cards of the human ego. Our creations and ideas can tumble with the touch of a breath, yet this apocalyptical landscape seems solid but is fluid by the transient nature of tectonic geology.
This duality is an interesting paradox that is seen most often in nature, and it reminds us that however solid our endeavors seem, they can end at the drop of a hat. It's important to understand as a writer that no matter how much you write for a target audience your audience could move on to something else tomorrow. I would argue that the best artists and writers don't create with a specific audience or goal in mind, but that their audience finds them.
People wish to be settled; only as far as they are unsettled is there any hope for them.
― Ralph Waldo Emerson
Ancient cultures knew that we all share a common fate - the inevitability of change. When you look at oral traditions such as story telling, the object of the exercise was to pass down knowledge within a cultural framework, and to seed something solid through that wisdom. Modern society is slowly losing this connection between narrative and culture. A lot of the time we tell stories only to entertain, losing the connection with past culture which strengthens our delusions of permanence.
Inhabiting a landscape is one of my favorite practices while travelling, walking quietly and drinking in the details of the place. Listening to the sound of lazy breezes through the millions of cracks and crevices of the rock lava, observing the way that the sun casts shades of blushing pink in an underlying mineral of an exploded crater; this crystalizing of memory only comes by entering a meditative state. I am writing this blog seven years after that trip to Lanzarote but the memories and musings that the landscape inspired are as vivid today as they were then.
It is these types of experience I always seek out in travel. Finding the hidden places, visiting the dangerous spots without a guide, loosing myself in a landscape.
The path less trodden inspires the dreams of artists, writers and seekers.
A YouTube reading of a poem I wrote inspired by the volcanic landscape of Lanzarote.
To read more about the aesthetics of true haiku, and the difference between haiku and senryu, please check out my post: Haiku Vs Senryu - The Aesthetics of Form
All images in this post are my own property. If you have enjoyed this Haiku, please check out my homepage @raj808 for similar content. Thank you.
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