Haibun ~ Lynn Edge

Different Perspectives

     Heavy falling mist--
     Mount Fuji not visible,
     but still intriguing
               Basho [translation by Sam Hamill]

First of October in Ruidoso, New Mexico. At the Adobe Gallery, I admire two paintings of Sierra Blanca by Gordon Snidow. The first shows the Sacred Mountain of the Apache from the east, the side often seen by tourists.

     artist’s colors
     forest green for pine
     snow cool blue

In the other, Snidow depicts the peak from the western view. Ochre and umber shade the foreground, but light strikes Sierra Blanca. I long to see this view of the mountain from the Tularosa Valley.

Like Basho on his pilgrimage to Mount Fuji, the next morning I journey over back roads through the Sacramentos. In the upper elevations, fog covers the twisting road.

     heavy mist--
     over the guardrail
     pine tops

Highway 37 drops through a curtain of fog into sunlight. I pass through the historic village of Nogal in a canyon with the same name.

     fog clears
     sun on cottonwoods
     brighter gold

Tularosa Valley. “Sierra Blanca Viewing Area.” In the distance, the Sacred Mountain of the Mescalero rises between two lower mountains. Clouds cover the summit. Gold gramma grass compliments the indigo of shadowed mountains. Like Basho, I am not disappointed.

     A day when Fuji
     Is obscured by rain
     That’s interesting
               Basho [translation by Robert Aitken]

Lynn Edge lives in Texas and enjoys the RV lifestyle which provides material for her writing. Her haibun have appeared in Rose and Thorn, Wilmington Blues, Flash in the Pan, and Kaleidowhirl. Her haibun "Late Snow" received an Honorable Mention in the Third R.H. Blyth Award 2004. Lynn is currently working on a chapbook entitled New Mexico Missives.

Copyright 2005: Simply Haiku