The Daily Haiku: The UK by Helene Guojah

I grew up by the sea in Cornwall, moving away in my late teens, as many of us did. With my partner, I am now in the slow process of renovating a small, semi-derelict house near Truro. I have worked with victims of homelessness and domestic violence and more recently as an event caterer alongside running a factory canteen. (Sharing your writing with strangers is not unlike laying out your buffet for a crowd – you’re never quite sure how it will go down.)

I had always wanted to write creatively in some form, but had never felt confident enough to share my scribblings, so I was initially quite tentative at being invited to join The Daily Haiku in March. I think I was jolted into writing my first lines by the momentous event of my son finally cutting his yards of hair and since then I think I have posted at least one verse every day, although I still hesitate to call them Haiku.

The Daily Haiku has been a creative companion through the pandemic miseries and the sea change of lockdown. I like the gentle prompt of the daily and weekly themes alongside the freedom to write on any topic. For a new writer, being able to learn, experiment and share in a warm safe environment is like dipping your toes in the summer shallows – invigorating and makes you smile.

Below are my first ever lines which I would probably write differently now but am still happy to let them stand.

And something more recent – the prompt was ‘weeds’ and this was what I saw on my shamefully unkempt driveway.