Haiku Reflection of AIN Conference

[Viv McWaters]

Hi everyone - I'm sitting in LA airport trying to stay awake long enough to catch my flight. I'm sorry to have missed the closing. In lieu of being there, here's what I was up to:

(Language alert)

So I’ve just spent four hours on a plane between Chicago and LA. When there’s no service and no entertainment (except for my trusty iPod, of course) what’s a girl to do? Haiku, of course. I’ve always wanted to use Haiku in a workshop for reflection, but haven’t yet found the right group. So I thought I’d practice on myself. What’s the collective noun, I wonder? A syllable of Haiku? Err, I got a bit carried away. (It was a long flight, OK?)

Impro, fun, laughter
Learning, connecting - being
afraid, courageous.

Such a short time with
friends, new and old. Possibility!
Love connects us still.

Be me, be average
Be present - to the gifts of
each other. Yes! And…

Everything in the field
is in there. Influencing,
and connecting us.

Games, talk, Open Space.
Our annual gathering now
ends, begins anew.

Exciting snatches
of possibility. And now
fresh ideas abound.

Shit! I left my bells
behind. Need them to perform.
Can you return please?

Norway, Sweden, Prague,
Canada, Australia, States,
Finland, England - us!

SF, New York, Banff
and Chicago. A space for
laughter, joy, gifts, love.

It begins before
it starts, continues after
it ends. Profound, eh?

What the fuck is AIN?
Local? Global? Emergent?
Group genius at work.

Deepening friendships
nourish my soul, raise my hopes
to save us from (insert preferred)
- boredom
- lawyers
- powerpoint

Fuck! It’s a long way!
Still more than twenty-four hours
to go! My bum’s numb.

How many Haiku
are enough? Probably this
many. Time to stop.

OK! Just one more.
Thanks for bringing gifts to share.
You all inspire me.

Cheers

Viv

[Teresa Norton]

Aussie lassie
Cheeky, sassy
Laughter warm and full and brassy
Opening space for us to play in
Had to leave but longed to stay in
the circle that is AIN...'n
That'a all I'll be, on Viv, sayin'

[Marvin Stottlemire]

For boredom Viv turns to Haiku
Finds beauty in a line or two
But I'm not so smart
I'm a silly old fart
So for me the limerick will do

[Cyriel Kortleven]

Great haiku, Viv. Absolutely great. Tx! Cyriel

[Simo Routarinne]

I think you are a genius, Viv!
What a wonderful way of saying things in a concentrated form!
I really loved this!

Simo

[Hikaru ”LOU” Hie]

wow.... VIV!! it touched my heart soooo deeply!!!

I love Haiku!! I wish I had more time to talk with you...
I hope you can come to AIN ASIA Conference!
We can do some Haiku Workshop!