Softening Your Gaze
Haiku and images that can change the way you look at things
The world can look harsh
when viewed from the outside in.
Up close changes things.
What can one say about these remarkable species of high desert cacti that look, at first glance, like aliens from another planet?
So I wrote a few haiku* to try to make sense of what I was seeing when I photographed the images below.
Like life, they reminded me that things are not always what they seem.
Ahhh 🌵
Photo series - San Miguel de Allende, Mexico
Look, don’t touch…(but can you feel?)
Photos and haiku by Stephanie Bennett Vogt
Life may be thorny.
If you looked closely you’d find
the softness is there.
Intricate beauty,
that can be seen but not touched,
makes eyes grow sharper.
Step in more closely
and you may just discover
a world of magic.
* What is a haiku?
The haiku is a Japanese poetic form that consists of three lines, with five syllables in the first line, seven in the second, and five in the third.
Share your haiku
If it moves you to write a haiku of what you experienced from viewing the photos above (or your life in general), we’d love to be moved. Share it in the comments here:
Speaking of seeing things… (in case you missed it)…
Desert guardians
Your curly spears curve inward
Till your sharps seem soft.
Thorny round cacti,
I know you’d freeze in my yard.
Too bad, I’m so sad.