Haibun: Pulse of the Ancients

a brindle whippet in an ancient wood
a brindle whippet sniffing the moss on the trunk of an ancient oak tree

September’s sun dapples through green and ochre leaves as the path meanders past a three-hundred-year-old sycamore, still standing strong. A few dog-less people make a fuss of Misty as she skips past them to the sunny side of the wood. A robin sings his heart out on a garden fence, where the path passes a few houses. We cross a small wooden bridge over the burn, one side of the water green with algae. Once we turn left, we see her.

Birnam Oak
six hundred years old and more
this autumn

close up of the bark and lichen of an ancient oak tree

One of the last living relics from a medieval forest that once grew here, her girth is around seven metres. The oak’s lower branches are so heavy they are supported by stilts and part of the trunk is hollow.

Shakespeare is said to have visited this area in 1589 when he was an actor and later immortalised the wood in his play Macbeth. This tree would have been mature when Shakespeare walked here. Touching the bark with my left hand, I feel a pulse that gets stronger and stronger the longer I leave it there, filling my palm with heat that travels down my arms and my spine, as if they are branches.

then and now
a mild south-easterly
tingles the leaves

© Xenia Tran

haikuKATHA, Issue 13, November 2022

Birnam Oak, lower section in the warm September sun

I am guest-hosting Haibun Monday at dVerse Poets tonight and the bar opens at 8pm GMT.

Wishing you all a happy Monday,

with love from Misty and Xenia xxx

Photographs by Xenia Tran, edited in lr.

Rag Tag Daily Prompt: Frame

dVerse Poets: Haibun Monday – September Song

Author: whippetwisdom

The stories, poems and photographs on this blog are the original creative work of Xenia Tran. Inspired by life in the Scottish Highlands and in awe of nature she gives voice to the wisdom of her adopted and fostered whippets.

77 thoughts on “Haibun: Pulse of the Ancients”

    1. Thank you so much for your kind words dear Kamal, it is such a beautiful tree and the energy pulsing through it felt amazing. Wishing you a blessed new week too and much love from our house to yours 🤗💛🙏 xxx

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  16. Never Held
    Prisoner
    iN A Jar Indeed

    ALLoWinG ESSeNCE CREaTinG ForM
    How Both Ancient And Newer Living Trees
    Come to Be From Dead Seeds Dear Xenia FRiEnD

    Living Green Leaves RiSinG Trees Taller Branches
    Reaching Up Falling Browner Leaves No Longer Green

    Yet Feeding Soul Soils For Spring Forest Returning From
    Frozen Winter Soils of Birth As Summer FLoWeRS Dance

    And Sing Free Again

    As We Humans As

    Source of Sunshine

    Within Star Seeds And
    FLoWeRS From Super Nova
    Explosions May Surely LiGHT
    Up Year ‘Round in Colors of New Art
    Free mY FRiEnD With SMiLes How Wonderful

    It is to Be Gaseous Star Dust Sentient ThiS Way

    How Beautiful it is to Light Up Our Living Trees
    Year ‘Round Inhaling Peace ExhalinG LoVE iN JoY
    oF LiGHT Giving Sharing Caring Healing For All

    With Least Harm

    True A Real Religion

    of Peace And Love

    For Star Dust

    Sentient Fearless

    to Really Do Now With SMiLes
    As Below A Grain of Sand May
    Hold Up Mountains of Human Love THiS WaY

    ALLoWinG ESSeNCE CREaTinG ForM LoVE
    BeCoMinG iNCaRNaTE Essence us WitH SMiLes
    Wonderful Week Ahead for You ALL Enjoy Be Wind Free

    Never Held
    Prisoner
    iN A Jar Indeed..:)

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  19. What a wonderful post Xenia sharing this ancient tree and the trails with sweet Misty. Your writing’s are so beautiful and I enjoyed the story about this oak and how amazing to feel the life force of something so very old. Awe-inspiring! Have a blessed week, sending love from Murphy, Chloe and I ~ ❤️🐴🤠💚

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  20. Oh to feel the energy of those ancient trees! A stunning haibun honouring these beauties. I especially enjoyed the suspense in the first piece of prose, “Once we turn left, we see her”….then we travel further in time to the most incredible gift of nature and history.

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