Saturday, December 28, 2019

#haikuforjustice dec 2019

 Illustration of several kids gathered around an adult holding the scales of justice. 

Once again at the end of November came the suggestion to share daily haiku, this year from Jone MacCulloch, with the hashtag #haikuforkindness. But then I was very affected by an article from the magazine Teaching Tolerance I read in the loo at my Thanksgiving hosts' house. "The harm done by long-term exposure to injustice—to the kind of imagery found in racist books, microaggressions and discrimination—calls for more than a simple understanding of kindness. It demands that kindness be interwoven with substantial notions of true justice," writes primary teacher Bret Turner. This made me want to take a step beyond kindness into the territory of #haikuforjustice.

Here's what I have come up with this month, often in response to news items.


yuletide richness inside 
bare brown scarcity outside 
sunny 60* evens things out


December 27 #haikuforkindness #haikuforjustice 
it's called a school strike
to stand with a striking sign
schooling passers-by


December 23 #haikuforkindness #haikuforjustice
to you my British kin
who still buy proper Christmas cards and
then --love--actually send them

2/2 
to Florence and her dad
who found a message in their Tesco card
then--love--actually heard


December 22 #haikuforkindness #haikuforjustice
#GeorgetownGlow @GeorgetownGlow
all hanging in the same
dark sky prickly and bright
ziptied ziplined light


December 21 #haikuforkindness #haikuforjustice
#haikuforsickness
longest night broken
the throwing off of last year's
acid  excess   bile


December 18 #haikuforkindness #haikuforjustice
Hopi R2 codetalking
decolonized rebels
force of indigenous genius


December 16 #haikuforkindness #haikuforjustice
@RepSlotkin #principled
represent them yes
but also oath of office
head and shoulders above


December 14 #haikuforkindness #haikuforjustice
#PublicEdForum #AllOurChildren
they all arrive
without a price tag  some
can’t see their value


Greta girl of the globe
person of the year
unable to kid herself


December 11 #twitterku #haikuforkindness #haikuforjustice
12:12 12/12
silent sky clock
counts out equal shine for all
cold moon justice


stand strong use your rights
to lift theirs till no one's left
defenseless alone

[no wait this is better]
everyone EVERY
one everyone everyone
EVERY one and ALL


cheeto feet to rotten crotch
to his hoggish head

2/ richly corrupt from
the start sometimes I think
about little Donnie


December 8 #haikuforjustice #haikuforkindness
#BigBird @KCHonors
Carroll, we won't forget
how to get, how to
get to Sesame Street


December 7  #haikuforkindness
washington and lee
belafonte harrier their
blackkklansman arrests me


December 5  #haikuforkindness #haikuforjustice
who sees what they need
who senses  who sounds  who speaks
we do   the teachers


December 4  #haikuforjustice #longformhaiku
#haikuforkindness
we had never met when the
birthday girl mailed me a tiny encouragement
I keep it in my wallet


December 3 #haikuforjustice #haikuforkindness
#simoncowellisoverparty racism sexism homophobia
one voice is too little
northsoutheastwest try a fifth direction
true harmony is a mix


her dad tells me "trabajo
lunes a sabado. no puedo
llevarla al doctor"


December 1 #haikuforkindness #haikuforjustice #WorldAIDSDay
kindness wears a rainbow
of ribbons, red yellow pink
justice acts up
 

********************************************

I'm not sure I've pulled it off, and certainly I have broken that cardinal rule of haiku and failed to include nature images in most of them...but I guess that comes with the territory.  Thanks, Poetic License!

Thanks also to the crew who are sharing their #haikuforkindness (also essential) and #haikufor justice on various platforms, and to Michelle Kogan who is hosting our last round-up of 2019 and blasting into a 2020 full of climate action--which is always for #justice.  See you in the new year!

3 comments:

  1. So happy to hear the Brit's are active exchangers of cards.Thanks for sharing your month of #haikus Heidi, and Happy New Year! BTW I think your link from Mister Linky is sending visitors to your post from last week, you may want to check it again, Cheers!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Wow! These haiku are amazing! Thanks for sharing them. I can't really pick a favorite, but I really like December 1 about kindness and justice, a fifth direction, Big Bird, everyone, without a price tag, and schooling passers by. thanks for sharing these--most inspiring.

    ReplyDelete

Thanks for joining in the wild rumpus!