Dear Friends,

Over the past two years, it's been my privilege to collaborate on a book project with the Irish poet and translator Gabriel Rosenstock.

Gabriel is a bilingual poet (in Irish & English), tankaist, haikuist, translator and the author of the book HAIKU ENLIGHTENMENT; he believes passionately in writing as a spiritual practice. He regards indigenous languages as storehouses of human wisdom.

His ultimate goal is to create texts that will be enjoyed by his readers and bring them joy.  In his words: "Without joy there is no true creation".

Over the course of our collaboration, Gabriel wrote short, 5 line tanka poems in spontaneous response to my photographs of standing stone monuments; each tanka poem added another dimension to an ancient landscape. Begun in 2020, the project became a meditation on the preciousness of our human relationships, our interconnectedness, and our relationship to our planet over time. 

I thought it would be nice to share this sample from our collaboration on this Winter Solstice.

On this longest night we can rest knowing that here, the wheel of the year turns. The light returns.

If you'd like to read more about our project, it was featured in the UK magazine
ON LANDSCAPE;  you can see it here.

Bright blessings of the season to you all!