Neighbor Stories: South Dakota 2016 (Concluding Thoughts in Verse)

How do you sum-up a moment in time? What words do you use to capture your thoughts, your feelings, your emotions. Not an easy task.
In South Dakota this summer we used haiku as a means to this end.
Initially, the idea of challenging Team members to write haiku each day to encapsulate their experiences was really a bit of a lark; a chance to do something fun to distinguish our week together from the rest of our lives.
As the week went on, however, it became clear that haiku had become its own special language among the members of the Team. It became the means by which we chronicled our experiences, shared our feelings, poked fun at each other and relished our growing bond.
While I cannot invite each of you into the experience and camaraderie we all shared, I can give you a peek into each in the form of a selection of the haiku we wrote and shared during our week in South Dakota.
I debated trying to provide a bit of a backstory for each haiku, but I realized that like all poetry the meaning of haiku is best left to the reader.
I also debated listing the author for each haiku, but, like Las Vegas, what happens in South Dakota stays in South Dakota.
Finally, I included a few final pictures to help capture the quirky spirit of this amazing Team and our week together at Cheyenne River Youth Project in Eagle Butte, South Dakota.

Must scribe a haiku
Such a daunting task reeks poohpooh
Sure hope this will do
(A haiku of protest)
Coffee Coffeeee
Coffee Coffee coffeeee
Coffee Coffeeee
(A traditional morning haiku)

People hard at work
People working in the sun
Better finish quick
Paint is on our arms
The paint is all in our hair
Paint is everywhere

Fifty children here
Shaving cream painted faces
God memories made
Ravens watch others
Others wondered why they watch
Ravens never said





So many pictures
Pictures of smiling faces
How to store them all
A few concluding thoughts about the week from the Team on its drive back home.
On the road back home
Reminiscing on our week
Memories so dear
Beautiful faces
Smiling, laughing, lots of fun
See you again soon
Great new memories
Help to pass the long drive home
Thanks to all of you
In closing, the South Dakota Family Mission Trip is a once in a lifetime experience that repeats itself each summer. The 2016 Trip was no exception having brought together a group of diverse people and forged among them a bond unlike any other.

God's Blessings from the South Dakota Family Mission Team
(Mic Drop)