Since I was a girl, haikus have been a part of my story. They help me be. In a time of stress, there’s something about the 5-7-5 mould that allows space to process. In nature, my mind begins to weave words within the haiku form, seeming to come together quite naturally. During my long flights between Washington and Spain, I remember crafting haikus related to clouds as the airplane sailed through them. This became a habit, one that urged presence and complete contemplation of my surroundings, offering up a short, written ode to that specific moment in utter gratitude.

Below are featured the ones I wrote this past year in 2025. Most were written on the Camino de Santiago (French route) between July and early August. Haikus have always been creative, word play for me and a frequent theme that snuck its way into many of them was the wind whose gentle, yet cheeky and sometimes even violent nature continues to mystify me.

1.

Cotton-colour skies.

Fish, gasping at air for food.

I’m struck by it all.

2.

Follow shells, follow. 

Keep moving on, step by step.

Trust, hope, breathe; smile, love.

3.

Wind weaving through trees,

brushing the faces of leaves—

gently, gently, gone. 

4.

Gaze, smell, taste, hear, touch.

The Camino calls us in

to listen and fly! 

5. 

Wind and water flow,

dancing in harmonic tune,

until the next note!

6. 

Shadows flow and flit,

shaping into flighty leaves,

leaving me to gaze

7. 

Cottony pillows,

pillowy clouds that bubble—

they transport me up.

8. 

The wind is dancing. 

Can you feel it whispering,

Calling us to here?

9. 

Bales of hay stand proud,

stacked neatly and carefully— 

many, yet distinct.

10.

Phases of the wind:

soft, wrathful, loud and gentle— 

mirror of myself.

11.

Blades of grass cut soft,

daggers of down and pillow, 

lulling me to nap.

12.

Blisters, blisters—ow.

Pockets of painful liquid,

floating on bubbles.

13.

Flickers of beauty:

flashes of light breaking through,

soaking me gently.

14.

The sobbing willow,

weeping, yet flowing to wind—

her tears make her brave. 

15. 

Flowing water, flow!

Trickle down my cheeks in streams,

cleanse my aching soul.

16. 

Babbling brook so sweet,

running through the dear forest,

washing stone and moss. 

17. 

Flowers frolic free,

in the wind; dancing, swaying—

oh, to be awake!

18. 

Shells, shells and more shells: 

guiding gently and clearly

on the Camino. 

19. 

Walk, feet! Walk, feet! Walk!

The world uncovers itself 

as I tread onwards.

20. 

Waft, wane, weave, web, wet.

All the words that start with /w/

are hard to forget.