Friday, November 8, 2024, | 3:00- 5:00 pm | Location: Marin Art and Garden Center | 30 Sir Francis Drake Blvd, Ross, CA 94957 (Fountain Pond)

This free workshop is offered to all ages, and children under 14 may sign up with an adult. Please bring a pen and paper or your preferred writing supplies.

Your guide, poet Jayne McPherson, seeks to cultivate a deep appreciation for how gardens contribute to well-being. Writing is rewarding, but writing haiku is the toast of a soiree!

Once upon a time, during the annual harvest, the wind blew seeds, and fallen leaves brought poetic voices to the pens of many. The people of the garden shared stories about nature’s gifts. As moonlight seemed within easy reach, squirrels scampered through the dirt to stash golden pods. Deer were found asleep during the daylight hours, hoping to add an extra layer of fat. That rowdy blue jay could be seen carrying the year’s bounty of seeds far from their origin. Finally, and at random, the oak, laurel, and dogwood trees dropped their canopy, leaf by leaf, falling on paths or into piles like staged blockades as if to say, “Take a breath and reflect.”

Join guest speaker David Watts, and come hear the sound of leaves crunching underfoot, speaking of many things. But most passionately, they sing, along with the crickets, “Slow down; the deer are coupling, and it’s story time.” Come enjoy haiku by writing together and savor the glowing warmth in poetry. Answer the call to nourish what’s fully ripened by observing. May you find artistic joy in using parallel imagery like this one by Yosa Buson:

Mushroom gathering —
the heads are full
as the peak of the moon