OLD SILENT POND

d silent pond.
Into the pond a frog jumps.
Splash! Silence again.”

“It is perhaps the best known of all Japanese haiku. No subject could be more humdrum. No language could be more pedestrian. Basho, the poet, makes no comment on what he is describing. He implies no meaning, message, or metaphor. He simply invites our attention to no more and no less than just this: the old pond in its watery stillness, the kerplunk of the frog, the gradual return of the stillness,” writes Frederick Buechner.

This type of Japanese poetry (haiku) is to invite our attention to one thing without comment or explanation. Because of the short and crisp verse we are left with little time to wander away in our mind.

I find praying in this short verse style is a good way to stay focused… short and to the point.

“And when you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard for their many words.” Jesus