Haikus for Blooming: Poetry with Photography
by Kimberly Phinney
Photograph: Kimberly Phinney
BLOOM TIME: FOUR HAIKUS WITH “FLORA”
Behold, I am doing a new thing;
now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?
I will make a way in the wilderness
and rivers in the desert.
ISAIAH 43:19
STORY AND DETAILS BEHIND THE PHOTOS:
This collection of photographs was taken on my Sony Alpha 7 with a Carl Zeiss fixed 50mm lens in manual mode. Photographs (saucer magnolia, painted daisy, pink rose) were all taken of indigenous Florida plant life in my “Flora” collection between 2015-2016 (prior to my miraculous pregnancy and prolonged illness). The photograph of the yellow swallowtail perched on fuchsia Penta was taken with my daughter by my side in my garden in 2019 shortly before my acute illness. Little did I know these would be some of my last nature photographs.
The paired haikus that follow each image were written late into the night of our final deadline of March 1, 2024, and they speak to the various ways I have “died” over the past few years and how—with my Good Father’s saving grace—I have learned to bloom again, just as nature does—winter after winter. We are more resilient than we know. Something is always blooming in us. May we take notice and realize we are not apart from nature but a part of nature. May we celebrate the renaissance that is happening on our insides, even “though outwardly we may be wasting away.”
Reader, have hope. It’s time to bloom again.
Photograph: Kimberly Phinney
PAINTED DAISY
They say her bloom means
innocence, so I hold her
close to ease my loss.
Photograph: Kimberly Phinney
PINK ROSE
With boldness she blooms
anyway, in that fallow
ground they left for her.
Photograph: Kimberly Phinney
SAUCER MAGNOLIA
Just when winter had
stayed too long, she went on and
bloomed—both bold and strong.
Photograph: Kimberly Phinney
YELLOW SWALLOWTAIL
It wasn’t you they
hated, Love; it was your wings.
So, go now: fly free.
KIMBERLY PHINNEY
Kimberly is a professional helper and artist completing her doctorate in community care and counseling. She is a professor, writer, editor, and counselor. During her critical illness in 2021-2022, she began dreaming about The Way Back to Ourselves and founded it in August of 2022. She is an award-winning poet, and her writing has been published in Ekstasis, Fathom, Truly Co, Radix, Calla Press, Humana Obscura, The Dewdrop, and many others. She’s been featured on Good Morning America and ABC News. Her debut poetry collection, Of Wings & Dirt, which is inspired by her health journey, infertility, and miraculous motherhood is out now with Wipf & Stock.
You can find Kimberly on Instagram @thewayback2ourselves and on Substack at thewayback2ourselves.substack.com. She writes about faith, suffering, mental health, community, the writer’s life, and more—all with the call to give authentic hope and encouragement to those who are trying to find their way back, too.