Conversation 96: THE DAILY HAIKU Interviews: Lynda Flint

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Well who would have thought I could get writer’s block over an interview, but this is precisely what happened. The solution was to take it one step at time, something I have learned over the years. I first started writing in a journal within a few days of my husband’s death. We had been married thirty-seven years so there was a lot of issues, loose threads and multitudinous responses to fill the empty pages with. Then those innocent lines became more rhythmic and magicked themselves into poetry. Hard to believe that it provided comfort, yet it did.

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I’ve been writing poems and recently short stories and haiku ever since. The interesting thing about haiku is how addictive it can become. I had just left a poetry group as no one seemed to like engaging in comments or posting any of their work, which I found frustrating. Like standing on a soapbox with all good intentions of wowing an audience only to find you’re the only one there.

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At first I found it difficult to work out how serious the members of TDH group were on their haiku. Now I realise that although it matters, it really doesn’t always matter. That sounds weird but not from myside of the keyboard it doesn’t. I love this group, what is there not to love about it. Even the doubters and shouters are dealt with in light hearted musings. I almost left the group at one stage, but realised for one negative comment there are always too many favourable ones to count on.

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As an artist I think that it is only natural to look for small details that others may overlook, the same can be said of how I approach writing haiku. A feather floating on the breeze, lands at my feet as if given as a gift. The light dappled on the ground through a silk screen of leaves to imprint upon the ground. I see things that make me hold my breath, just in case they disappear before I take another. How can I explain what nature and life and poetry mean to me when ink flows in my blood in a never ending supply for the words I need to write.

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I touch a rainbow
it’s here where you once placed me
high on your shoulders

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a hospice bag
slippers gown socks
collecting farewells

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winter alchemy
sun’s gold spun into silver
ripples on the lake

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I have opened doors
with wrong keys that never fit
wish I’d never tried

6 Comments on “Conversation 96: THE DAILY HAIKU Interviews: Lynda Flint”

  1. Heartfelt, Lynda. Beautifully written & for sure I’ll take your ‘writer’s block’ anytime! This is a conversation I appreciate being able to read and take in. I appreciate so much you talking about the loss of your husband and what comes emotionally. The fact you let it all out on paper is something that must have been very healing for you. Thank you for being here with all of us and sharing some very powerful and thoughtful haiku. May we have many more from you, and may we all be able to lift each other at different times through this group with haiku and friendships being made everyday.

  2. Fascinating to read what led you to haiku, Linda. I’m so sorry you lost your husband, but I’m glad that you found some comfort in poetry.

  3. This is what I love and appreciate from being part of TDH family. Open, honest comments that show empathy without restriction. Amanda provided the magic box, the people who took up the challenge and unlocked it are the heart and soul of this. Thank you for sharing a part of your insight and life with what starts out as mere strangers. Ends with… no ending, always and forever I hope

  4. You write ‘quietly’ Lynda, both here and in your haiku posts. When I read your posts I always see your youthful side. Please keep on posting. Take care out there

  5. This interview really resonates with me Lynda. Thank you for your openness and creativity. The ‘rainbow’ haiku is so beautiful and actually made me cry. Damien is absolutely spot on with his observation of the way you write being ‘quietly’, the words seep and never shout, they stay and never leave abruptly, they bring your artist eye to the world through the careful placing of each word within a complete picture. Your comments on the group are so welcome, the way we support and nurture but also deal deftly, we hope, with shouters and ranters but fostering I hope an invitational space in which to discover individual voices and approaches to haiku, also wider creativity with the inclusion of visual work too.

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