TJ’s Household Haiku Challenge – Meal and Friendship

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A little home filled with love and friendship. So rare and so precious.
A little home filled with love and friendship. So rare and so precious.

A family meal

We take for granted daily

Sharing food and love

For many, something as simple as sharing a meal is out of their reach. It is not my place to launch into a lengthy philosophy about the wrongs of the world at this time or be so naive as to suggest that all we need to do is sit down and eat a home-cooked meal, but if you have the chance to share a meal with someone you care for then treasure this chance. It is a very precious and increasingly rare thing. It is a distillation of what is fundamentally needed by us all…sustenance and friendship.

In French, the equivalent to our English phrase “I will miss you.” translates as “You are missing from me.” The ones we love make up an essential part of our lives; the French reflects this. Without them we are incomplete. A part of us is missing. That is why it hurts so much when we lose ones we love. It is like losing a part of ourselves. This is why sharing friendship is so powerful (and sometimes so hard). You have the potential to become a part of someone else and it is why we should never treat friendship lightly.

My Garden of Friendships

In a world of troubles,

I keep a small garden of my friendships.

Sometimes, when the season is right,

It bursts into flower,

And night and day there is the sound of happy laughter,

Filling the air with delicious fragrance.

Sometimes I find,

I forget to apply appropriate nourishment at the right times,

And the parched bed of drooping plants accuses me…

Of neglect.

It usually comes back on again.

Except once…

And a rare friendship died…

I hope in someone else’s garden,

There is a little plant, well cared for,

With a little plastic label,

Marked “Me”

…O…

Many thanks to the wonderful folks who jumped on board last week and shared their poetry on the Haiku Challenge “Anniversary” post.

Edwina’s Episodes had an intriguing photo posing a very interesting question.

http://edwinasepisodes.com/2015/11/07/tjs-household-haiku-challenge-photgraph/

Elusive Trope matched an image of stark beauty with a great, inspired haiku.

http://elusivetrope.com/2015/11/07/resistance/

Darklight Harbour produced a wonderful melange of all the past prompts to produce a magical sequence of haiku. I really love this.

https://darklightharbor.wordpress.com/2015/11/10/anniversary-bonanza-for-tj/

Pat B has matched some beautiful images with her lovely haiku about weeds. There is beauty in many things if you look for it.

http://aseasonandatime.blogspot.com.au/2015/11/tjs-household-haiku-challenge.html

36 Comments

  1. At such times as these, your message is especially beautiful and moving, TJ–and they nudged me personally, so thank you. Thanks also for the lovely mention of the “bonanza”. God bless you.

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    1. Connections based on good feeling, generosity of spirit and kindness show what is best in the world. I pray that everyone can come to enjoy the sort of beautiful connections I have be so very blessed to have made in my life, including those out there in the blogosphere. Bless you too!

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      1. Sometimes, TJ, for many of us the “close table of family/friend connections” is indeed here on the blogs where distance seems to melt away. Tonight I am so grateful to have a place at that sacred table (no mandatory religion implied)–where we may share our heart beliefs, hopes, and prayers perhaps. Hopefully my words do not sound too awkward (I know what I mean, but am so overwhelmed listening to the continuing news from Paris…). It is perhaps an odd aspect of compassion to say, “alright, let the 9/11 US attacks be enough–now please leave all our neighbors in peace.” It’s how I feel tonight–does that sound completely stupid? I simply want an end, no more violence.

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        1. Not stupid at all. Senseless violence solves nothing and I am so sorry that people get to the point where they see this as the ultimate way to act. While we can’t solve the problem on a global scale we can at least try to do our best to show what compassion ans understanding can achieve amongst those around us. Don’t lose heart!

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  2. That was a lovely haiku TJ, The simplicity of a meal, yet the joy it brings when sharing it with family and friends is immense.
    The poem was very touching as well, I think we are all a little guilty of not nurturing our friendship gardens properly, and losing the precious and beautiful flowers along the way,

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    1. Thanks so much! Life has a way of hurtling on and it you suddenly find that you have let time catch you up too much. We can’t be perfect everyday though….sigh. Just do your best and be grateful for those who share their lives with you. Hope your week is a good one. Thanks so much for your comments! I really enjoy reading them. TJ

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    1. Thank you so much. You have made my day with this very kind comment. It is hard in this fast paced world to stay focussed on what is truly important. Best wishes! TJ

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