HIKING LOVERS HAIKUS: Odes to Lockdown

Noha Nasser, Anya Sujet, Peter Lewandowski, and Sunita Paul

 

Hiking has many benefits. For one, it is a natural form of exercise.Most people can walk with no training. Hiking in nature calms the nervous system and elevates your mood. It is also a social activity because it takes place at a pace that allows for conversation. Finally, hiking has a spiritual benefit in that it can be very meditative.

 

In November 2018, Noha and Nurcan set up a WhatsApp Group called Hiking Lovers to promote hiking and its many benefits. We endeavour to organise at least one hike a month in different parts of the UK.

 

When Lockdown 2020 happened, at first, it seemed we wouldn’t be able to meet for our monthly hike. The UK government had banned all group meetings and only allowed people to have an hour of exercise per day. We were determined to continue with our hikes and all its benefits so we encouraged every member of the Hiking Lovers to hike near their homes at the same time. To make it more entertaining we created themes that would inspire us to focus our minds and to capture on camera. The themes were: Bluebells and flowers in April, Trees in May, Birds and Animals in July, and Skies and Views in November. Once Lockdown eased we were eager to meet up and we organised hikes in Londonaround Richmond Park in June and Hampstead Heath in August, and Clifton Hampden in Oxfordshire in October.

 

This piece captures the essence of our ‘Hiking Alone Hiking Together’ Lockdowns in 2020. A few of us Hiking Lovers got together to express what it was like through Haikus – a type of short poetry originally from Japan. The traditional haiku consists of three phrases that contact a ‘kireji’ or ‘cutting word’ and is based on a 5.7.5 syllable pattern. The cutting word slices the haiku in two; juxtaposing two images which energises the poem. Here are haikus we have written about our themes and the places we met up once Lockdown had been lifted.