Haibun Poetry
Om
The sound of the universe
This time I was away from home for a couple of months and my little window garden suffered. A particular plant got infected and the leaves had little blisters and insects on them. It was dying. I had not unpacked yet, but I could not wait. I immediately pruned the leaves and sprayed some insecticide on the soil and hoped for the best.
In two days, baby leaves sprung up on the stems and they were healthy! I get very sad when my plant babies die so this was a celebratory feat.
I clicked a photograph and the Om charm happened to be in the background, almost speaking to me in metaphors.
Om is the essence of the supreme Absolute, consciousness, Ātman, Brahman, or the cosmic world. In Indic traditions, Om serves as a sonic representation of the divine, a standard of Vedic authority and a central aspect of soteriological doctrines and practices. Om (ॐ, ओम्) is a Sanskrit symbol representing a sacred sound, syllable, mantra, and an invocation in Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism and Sikhism.
The Aitareya Brahmana of Rig Veda, in section 5.32, suggests that the three phonetic components of Om (a + u + m) correspond to the three stages of cosmic creation, and when it is read or said, it celebrates the creative powers of the universe.
This time I was inspired to write a Haibun.
While there are various theories and studies on the nature and origins of Om, its significance in almost all civilisations cannot be overlooked.
From the Indian Vedas, Puranas, Upanishads to the Japanese, Buddhist and Tibetan chants, the power of Om is universal. Om is used as an auspicious symbol for new beginnings and these new baby leaves tell me we are forever in the loop of ends and beginnings. Nature is the truth of life and has all answers, only if we look carefully.
Buried seeds sprout life
To begin after the end
Om! I rise again
Haibun is a prosimetric literary form originating in Japan, combining prose and haiku. The term “haibun” was first used by the 17th-century Japanese poet Matsuo Bashō. A haibun may record a scene, or a special moment, in a highly descriptive and objective manner. Generally, a haibun consists of one or more paragraphs of prose written in a concise, imagistic haikai style, and one or more haiku.
You may like to read about my experience as an author so far:
