Haiku

One of my favorite gardening tools is the haiku.  It looks like a tiny hoe, only more slanted and very sharp. It is great for weeding and digging small holes. Of course, every time I use the haiku, I think about haiku poetry, and the allure of its extreme structure of syllables (5-7-5). 

The haiku was one of my favorite writing tools in corporate America, because it forced the writer to distill their thoughts to the very essence of the idea they were trying to convey.  Think about it: you have to write a training manual about a new piece of equipment or a new pricing structure.  Rather than starting with a huge outline or a bunch of objectives, use the haiku to identify the essence of the product or plan, then go from there.  Yes, everyone thought I was crazy, but it really helped new writers get right to the point every time.

Back to gardening. Yesterday was another gardening day.  We were out in the back bed again, which we didn't quite finish last week.  The focus was the cursed devil's grass in the Japanese irises, yet again. My 14 year old niece was looking for some cash, so we paid her to help with the weeding. 

As we were getting all ready to garden (applying bug spray, getting gloves, etc.) I asked her to choose her weapon.  Her options were: the cobra or the haiku. Since she and I had gone through a big haiku period a couple of years back, she was delighted to find a tool with the name of her favorite kind of poetry! Armed and ready, we went to face the weeds.

Kristen has not been following my blog, so she was unaware of the more appropriate name for Bermuda grass: devil's grass. Nor has she had much experience pulling the annoying stuff out from other plants, so this was a banner day for her. We spent the first few minutes getting her trained in the use of the tool and the rudiments of weeding. After just a few minutes she had the hang of things.  Just a few minutes later, she was saying things like, "Curse you, devil's grass!". Did I mention how much alike we are??

For the two hours as we worked on eradicating the weeds (devil's grass, crab grass, briars, tiny trees, violets, and unidentified plants), Kristen learned the joys of gardening with a haiku.  The outcome of our time together was a clean bed (she did a really good job) and a haiku that fits beautifully within this blog.

        Gardening Haiku, by Kristen

        These absurd weed things
        Are giving me a headache.
        I wish they'd all die.