“I’m hoping to be astonished tomorrow
by I don’t know what”
–Jim Harrison, “Tomorrow,” In Search of Small Gods
Every day the world awakens anew. I wake to the sound of birdsong–twitters, chirps, the laugh of the woodpecker. I laugh, too. It’s a beautiful June morning. I drink coffee while a cat purrs on my lap. I stand in sunshine, and later I smell petrichor rising from the damp grass as the world—or my little part of it—is washed clean. I’m hoping to be astonished tomorrow by what I don’t know—more people who appreciate the earth, who believe in truth and value what is good. Our cups can never be too full. There is always room in this world for more beauty, more love.
peonies open,
a fleeting gift of beauty
given to the world
I’m catching up on prompts! This Haibun is for Jilly’s Day 9 of 28 Days of Unreason, inspired by the poetry of Jim Harrison. I’m also linking to Colleen’s Tanka Tuesday, using synonyms for care and share. Frank’s Haikai challenge this week the 2018 FIFA World Cup. I have zero interest in sports, and I know nothing about the FIFA world cup. So, totally cheating here, but I did get world and cup into this, along with a nod to last week’s prompt on peonies, which I missed.
Yesterday and today: Merril's historical musings 
You have captured the spirit of this and filled my coffee with a welcome shot of the glorious. The attitude of joy, of expecting beauty, is lovely! I am so grateful that you wrote and shared!
Awww–thank you, Jilly. I’m glad my words filled you with some joy. 🙂
Not yet mid-June, and already I miss the scent of petrichor. When it’s 85° by 10am, spring seems long gone. This is a nice reminder.
Thank you. We’ve had such strange weather. We had some hot, humid days with the a/c running, then it gets cooler. Yesterday, it was hot and humid, but apparently it rained while we were in a theater, and the rain scent–even in Philadelphia– was so lovely.
I’m going to mention honeysuckle fragrance since you brought up beautiful local smells! I love the focus on peonies and I applaud your ingenuity in how you managed all those elements. I mean it, not making a joke. !!!
Thank you very much, Claudia!
Oh yes–honeysuckle. Yes, that is a glorious scent, too, especially after it rains. I don’t think of it because we don’t have any–but when I was a child in Dallas, we had honeysuckle at the front of our house, and my sister and I used to watch hummingbirds there from our living room window.
A skillful cheat and catch up 😉 Actually I like the feel of your haibun very much. I enjoy the hopefulness in “I’m hoping to be astonished tomorrow” and “Our cups can never be too full”.
Thank you very much, Janice. 🙂
Reblogged this on Frank J. Tassone and commented:
#Haiku Happenings #2: Merril Smith’s #haibun for my current #haikai challenge!
Thank you, Frank!
Good for you! I too knew nothing of the world cup, so I opted out. perhaps I will post my haiku on the hibiscus!!
Thanks, Dwight. Just work in world and cup. 😉
I just posted it!! :>)
I’ll check it out. 🙂
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