Clear your mind, take a short nature hike and live the haiku moment! Ray McNiece, Two-time Cleveland Haiku Death Slam Champion and author of two Haiku collections — wet sand raven tracks and breath burns away, will give a brief introduction to the form with classic and contemporary haiku examples then lead a Ginko, aka haiku hike. During the walk, haiku writers will pause at varied micro climates to practice mindfullness meditation, sensory awareness and, using their zen GPS, compose haiku. The Ginko will start at Shaker Lakes followed by a sharing of haiku moments created along the way. In keeping with the traditional format of a haiku collection, this will be the second of four seasonal hikes.
Session will begin on site (Shaker Lakes) with a lesson on Haiku including examples of classic and contemporary haiku, (20-30 minutes) followed by the hike, stopping at several micro climates, (45-60 minutes) and conclude with a group sharing of generated haiku (30 minutes).
Work with the best...
Ray McNiece is the author of eleven books of poems and monologues, most recently The Bone Key Sutra (SeaStory Press, 2025), Love Song for Cleveland, a collaboration with photographer Tim Lachina, and Breath Burns Away. The Orlando Sentinel, reporting on Ray’s solo theater piece “Us — Talking Across America” at the Fringe Festival, called him a "modern-day descendant of Woody Guthrie. He has a way with words and a wry sense of humor.”
Shaker Lakes Nature Center
2600 S Park Blvd Cleveland, OH 44120
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