The Daraja Experience (Written in Haikus)

By Chelsea Kincheloe

 

A haiku is a Japanese style of poem consisting of 17 syllables. Each poem is composed of three lines. You cannot go over the designated syllables in each line. The first line consists of 5 syllables, the second line 7, and the third reverts back to 5.

I’ve written a total of seven haikus. Each one represents a reflection on my first week at Daraja.

 

Arrive in a whirlwind 

Overrun with tiredness 

Hello pillow 

 

Hello Daraja! 

Rapid smiles everywhere 

My new family

 

Written on faces

Palpable inspiration

Sunrise to sunset   

 

Day in and day out 

Flurries of activities 

So much to observe  

 

Bleak landscapes greet me   

Dust and wind shape my dry hair 

Longing stares upwards 

 

Hello strange garden 

How I have missed your sweet song

Won’t you be my friend? 

 

End of my first week 

Elated and exhausted 

Excited for more