Within the Heart of Silence Celebrates National Haiku Day

Outer Banks, Nags Head, North Carolina
photography credit Jacqueline E. Smith

So in celebration of National Haiku Poetry Day, I wondered, what would it be like to convert one of the poems in Within a Heart of Silence to haiku?  Jacqueline E. Smith, the photographer, and I, James William Peercy, the poet, collaborated on Within the Heart of Silence.    Selecting the poem for Outer Banks, Nags Head, North Carolina, I discovered it would take five haikus to do what was done in the book if I were to stay close to the original wording.  Here is the result.  What do you think?




 Here are the five haikus.  They are based upon
 Jacqueline’s photo, Outer Banks, Nags Head, North Carolina.

Poem 1
Footsteps lost upon
The sand fading as we watch
The sea no one’s land.

Poem 2
Corroboration
That mortal man walked the grains
Quite unplanned in froth.

Poem 3
Waters drift upon
Our feet swishing on the toes
Washing off our woes.

Poem 4
Run your fingers through
The mist caressing the skin
With salty love borne.

Poem 5
Whispers of life’s breath
Clings to hearts that see within
A wandering soul.







Outer Banks, Nags Head, North Carolina
photography credit Jacqueline E. Smith

Here is the original poem:

Footsteps lost upon the sand
Fading as we watch,
Evidence that mortal man
Walked the beaches quite unplanned
Into a sea of froth.

The waters drift upon our feet,
A soothing of our toes.
The gentle splash of warm embrace
Washes off our deepest
Woes.

Run your fingers through the mist.
Feel it touch the skin.
Love the whispers of life’s breath.
Cling to hearts that see within
The soul.

They do make us whole.

Similar yet different?  Perhaps it is not unlike the conversion of a book to a movie or a movie to a book.  The very nature of the format forces the difference.  Hopefully the meaning is still clear.
If you like photography and poetry, please visit our website at www.WithinTheHeartOfSilence.com
This book was published by Wind Trail Publishing.  Check out their other books!

Thanks for reading!

James