During my stint as haiku poet in residence at The Times & Sunday Times Cheltenham Literature Festival I led each day a haiku walk. We meet in the ‘bookstand’ in Montpellier Gardens and walk down to this pine tree where I introduce myself, Basho and haiku!

Basho said something along the lines of ‘To know of the pine go to the pine and to know of the bamboo go to the bamboo’ and it’s in this spirit that we walk, talk and write. For too many of us the writing of poetry has become a desk based activity. Schools perpetuate this. I’m with Basho and urge everyone to go out and write where you are and of course it’s okay to rework a little things when you get home.

So to know of the pine, go to the pine, the bamboo the bamboo and the street the street, the shopping centre, the car park the laundromat.. and when you go there leave your own thoughts behind until the place and it’s objects, it’s things begin to glimmer, to talk to you,to write their own poetry.

found in the fountain
a shoe full of leaves
and poetry

Paul Conneally
December 2018