Have you ever had an inexplicable affinity for something completely outside your upbringing?  I’d like to think these are a result of influences from past lives.

Priest, Jew and Japanese Poet

Being in a Catholic church makes me feel as if I have a psychic connection with the priest…as if I’m standing in his shoes, experiencing each part of the mass as if I’ve delivered it hundreds of times in the past.  I can feel the pinch of his black leather shoes and the need to adjust the sleeve of the Chasuble as I pour the wine and water to prepare the sacraments.  As a person who was raised Catholic, this might be natural, and nothing to do with reincarnation, but it feels like more than that.

The first time I ever participated in a Seder dinner with Jewish friends of mine, it was like a tradition I had celebrated for decades.  It was comforting, it was fun…it felt completely natural.  There are times in my life when I feel I must have been raised Jewish in at least one prior life.

And now I’m certain that I must have been an exceptionally talented Japanese poet in some recent past life.  The same reverence I have experienced in church and when thinking about Jewish traditions, I now feel when I read or write Haiku.  In the past, when I have been asked to write Haiku in school or at the request of a social media friend, there was an immediate sense of stillness and sacred preparation of my mind that happened…completely unexpectedly…and I carefully crafted the words with the exact right balance of earnestness and wit.  It was like an act of love.

And then, a friend of mine gave me this:

Haiku Fuck You by Josh Myers (The Haiku Champ) is an amazing compilation of awesomeness.  The first example I read immediately cemented my love for this book:

I come to find out that Josh lives nearby and works at the local bookstore (Farley’s Bookshop…which is fucking awesome) and he also seems to run a micro press business with a friend named Joe Bouthiette, so I’m enjoying his brilliant work…especially where he uses my name:

Clearly one of my past lives I was a dock worker or someone else with a potty mouth.  It inspired me:

Birthday Request

My 59th birthday is this Wednesday.  Instead of obligatory birthday greetings on my Facebook timeline…or even worse, begging for money for charity instead of birthday wishes…please feel free to write me a birthday Haiku…either in comments, or on my Facebook timeline.

Current Knitting

The Easter/Passover weekend was a bit busy and Finn was quite needy, so I haven’t done an enormous amount of knitting.

But I did do some work on the Briar Rose Pullover.

I finished the ribbing and got an inch or so done on the body of the sweater.  This is going to be one soft and very warm sweater.