Mr and Mrs and their friends
Cafe haibun and haiku, by Eva Castle
Going to Japan four decades after my first trip was a chance to learn to be in the moment. Before leaving Australia I met up with Pauline, a haiku writer from Sydney, who would also be joining the group, for a coffee in the David Jones café.
In my daily diary for the first day of the tour, is a note about the group meeting for dinner the 400-year old ryokan in a town called Ena. In the afternoon I had bumped into another of our group while sightseeing at the Old Merchant’s Museum. We caught up as we went from room to room and into the courtyard garden at the back, in gentle afternoon sun.
Afterwards, in a narrow street we saw a magnolia tree, pollard pruned, in full flower. My companion decided to see a shrine and I went into the nicest café with a picture window and what looked like the Japanese equivalent of a Wattle bird, eating a half cut orange on a bird feeder in the garden.
Others in the café were of course Japanese. One woman was chatting to the woman who served me, while her husband made coffee. Neither spoke English. Coffee was served in a Noritake teacup and saucer. It was freshly ground, filtered, black and delicious. It came with nibbles. The café was in what seemed to be their kitchen and lounge room.
laneway café
Japanese style
Mr and Mrs and their friends
During the trip I shared in the excitement and challenge of practicing how to be present. Along the way, walking and writing, gathering at days end to reflect on our observations, there was always delight at what we had collectively experienced.
pond of mud blooms again
spring bulbs foretell
nature’s mood
pine tree towers
catch the sun and moon
day’s end
brushes and hoe
rest by the pond
tomorrow’s work
onsen thoughts
much to leave behind
on the return home
come down
from the sacred mountain
monkey mind betrays me
© Eva Castle Japan 2018
Eva Castle is an author, researcher and curator from the Ilawarra region who is currently enjoying exploring the haiku form. She was a participant in Haiku Walking — The Nakasendo Way in 2018.
Photos, except where indicated, by Jan Cornall, taken along the Nakasendo Way in 2018.
Our next haiku adventure will be Haiku Snow Walk in Japan’s snow country in Jan/Feb 2019. More details here.
The next Moroccan Caravan is currently in planning and will take place in March 1–15, 2019. Beginning in Tangier it will travel via Chefchaouen (the blue city) and Fes arriving in Tissardmine for our desert sojourn and camel trek.
