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:

Wendy said...

ooooooooooh i LOVE this!!!!!

Stacy said...

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

Bianca said...

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

Crafty Green Poet said...

That does sum up Quaker meetings beuatifully.

Anonymous said...

Beautiful picture and wonderful words. Thanks. :)

Regina said...

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

Roswila said...

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.

Unknown said...

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.

Anonymous said...

A splendid haiku. It say so much!

Becca said...

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

Jone said...

This is gorgeous. They haiku and the presentation.

Anonymous said...

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!

Andromeda Jazmon said...

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?

Shelley said...

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.

Anonymous said...

Very creative! Beautiful poem on a lovely old building.

megan said...

a river of quiet...quite nice

Annie Jeffries said...

LOVE the originality of this presentation.

Laurie Chase Kruczek said...

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