March 12, 2007

Stillness Haiku


A stillness in each
moment, and together...
a river of quiet.

The building is the Meetinghouse of the Quakers at Stonybrook (Princeton),
the first building built for wholly public purposes in the area,
used as a field hospital during the Revolutionary War battles in Princeton,
and a house of worship, now as then.

(Thank you to the women of One Deep Breath
for their continuing inspiration.)

18 comments:

  1. ooooooooooh i LOVE this!!!!!

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  2. I see that you have been using your spring break wisely. This one is really terrific.

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  3. Now this is what I'm talking about, such a calmness sitting near a rive. Beautifully done, I loved it!

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  4. That does sum up Quaker meetings beuatifully.

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  5. Anonymous12:07 PM

    Beautiful picture and wonderful words. Thanks. :)

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  6. Oh, just lovely- the building itself is so serene...

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  7. I love the contrast that a "river of stillness" calls up. As if the real "trick" is to be still inside no matter the journey outside. And, for me, that is something I've rarely accomplished. :-) Wonderful photo, too.

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  8. My brother got married in this building! I imagined the tranquility of laying stone after stone in the wall, building a wall of quiet contemplation, so like the Quaker way. Thanks for this beautiful thought.

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  9. Anonymous4:42 PM

    A splendid haiku. It say so much!

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  10. This is lovely, and so appropriate for the Quaker meeting house.

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  11. This is gorgeous. They haiku and the presentation.

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  12. Anonymous11:17 AM

    The haiku & photo blend perfectly. Well done! I thought of stones of stillness, too, being a Quaker building. Thanks for sharing it with us, and the moments of stillness becoming a river. Contemplation does have a cumulative effect, as long as we don't stay away from it too long. I think it's time to dip my toes back in the water!

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  13. Wow this is fantastic! Great photo and great haiku! I love how you put the words on the wall too - how did you do that?

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  14. Thank you all for your kind comments.

    Robin, do treat yourself to some quiet, meditative time.

    colorful prose, so cool about your brother!

    Cloudscome, I used a graphing program designed for Macs called OmniGraffle , which I love for its ability to help me represent information in new ways.

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  15. Anonymous1:03 PM

    Very creative! Beautiful poem on a lovely old building.

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  16. a river of quiet...quite nice

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  17. LOVE the originality of this presentation.

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  18. just listen closely
    you will hear Quaker blogs speak
    so what canst thou say?

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Thanks for sharing your thoughts!