walking on dead leaves
blood reds, skin tints, old fool's gold
soles on souls, clapping
Hakuin Ekaku’s well-known koan:
“Two hands clap and there is a sound, what is the sound of one hand?”
Isaiah 55:12
“You will go out in joy and be led forth in peace;
the mountains and hills will burst into song before you,
and all the trees of the field will clap their hands.”
About the Author
Jane McPhetres Johnson lives in Amherst MA.
Born in Colorado, enlightened in the ‘60s and ‘70s, landed in Wyoming with two sons, one born while commuting to Vermont’s Goddard College MFA. Recent poems in Silkworm, Ekphrastic Review, and Song between the Stars. Read more in Jane’s book, Maven Reaches Mars: Home Poems and Space Probes in Four Fascicles (2020).
Jane---I love this haiku. It couldn't be more satisfying to read and ponder. Thank you for writing and sharing it with us.
This is a wonderful haiku, Jane—so evocative and thought-provoking. Who could ask more of a poem?!?
Oh, yes! Thank you, Jane.
And what is the sound of no hands clapping, only feet on fallen leaves? Thank you, Starry, Starry Kite. I like the illustration you chose.
Bravo, Jane. Lovely.