A Glimpse of the Sacred (Haiku)

As a student nurse, I was most interested in Maternal-Newborn nursing, particularly Labor and Delivery.  After I graduated in 1970, I spent the next 17 years working in hospital obstetric units, earning a Masters of Nursing degree in Parent-Child Nursing, teaching Maternal- Newborn nursing at the University of Washington and working as the Maternal-Newborn Clinical Nurse Specialist at Swedish Hospital Medical Center in Seattle.  Even when I switched to psychiatric nursing in 1987, the therapy modality I used was developmental in nature.

So last Friday, when I saw a news story about a baby who had recently been born still in its amniotic sac I was mesmerized.  As I watched the video, I sensed I was getting a glimpse of something very sacred.

Another event that was happening at the same time was that I was preparing to take Blogging University’s Writing 201: Poetry class.  I’ve never written poetry before and have no idea if I have any talent for it, but I wanted to give it a try. Our first assignment was emailed to us last night.  We are to write a Haiku focusing on some aspect of water. Examples the instructor gave were “A murky puddle or a glistening lake. Amniotic fluid or your grandfather’s glass of Seltzer. A bath, a hose, an oasis.”  A Haiku consists of “three lines containing five, seven, and five syllables, respectively.”

When I read the instructions, the baby in the amniotic sac came to mind.  Below you will find the video I had seen, and my first attempt at writing a haiku!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M59Q6dKQfCA

Haiku

fetus warm, contained
inside, new life unfolding
parents eagerly waiting

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I could have also said:

fetus warm, contained
inside, new life unfolding
God’s gift in human form

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Which poem speaks most to you?

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Written, in part, for Writing 201: Water

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33 thoughts on “A Glimpse of the Sacred (Haiku)”

  2. I like the first one better… I think it’s because it adds to the feeling of excitement built up by the other two lines. It seems to make a complete thought. And it flows a bit better, I think.

    Love it! Well done!

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    1. Thanks. I really appreciate that feedback. I liked the first one but wondered if I should tie in the post title. I’m glad to hear that if flowed well to you as it was!

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  3. Bravo my dear, you have created such a beautiful series…both speak to me…after your first one, I could add 2 lines of 6 syllables and it would be a tan renga…when a haiku speaks to me, I often respond like that, and it looks like a Tanka
    so your first one:
    fetus warm, contained
    inside, new life unfolding
    parents eagerly waiting

    lullabies in the womb
    recognizes mama’s voice

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    1. I’m loving how different poems speak to different people. That is part of why I suggested you publish both versions, even if the first one you wrote didn’t meet the criteria 100%.

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      1. To be honest Karuna, I prefer not to use any term in lieu of ‘God’. The reason is that as soon as we conceptualise something other than, let’s say, ‘what is’, then we create a dichotomy. If I were to point outwardly to, say, ‘Nonduality’, or ‘Nibbana’, or ‘Moksha’, then I at the same time make of them an otherness, which is contrary to actuality, even though that actuality may not be known to me. It is of course necessary for the spiritual seeker to hold such conceptions, yet only until such time as they no longer regard themselves as standing in contradistinction to them. Do you get my drift?

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      2. Yes, I do see where you are coming from! Thanks for sharing your thoughts with me. It reminds me that I still haven’t written a post I’ve thought of writing many times. Maybe after the poetry course is over.

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    1. Really! That is very interesting!

      I don’t remember you ever taking a poetry course. Let Sreejit and Chaitanya know! Sreejit is also taking this Word Press poetry course.

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  11. In spite of all advances in medicine, birth of a child is still a miracle, constituting a spiritual experience by itself. Both your haikus are good, as a first attempt, karuna. Just keep at it, as many more beautiful lines are bound to flow from your quill…best wishes… Raj.

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