Original DDE™ art: “Kingfisher” by: rob kistner © 1/5/26
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The epiphany came to him at the river’s bend, where water forgot its hurry and learned to slow down, listening. On this Pacific Northwest morning, fog lifted like a curtain, revealing stones smoothed by centuries of insistence. He had come looking for answers, but the river offered only motion—constant, unarguable, patient.
A kingfisher cut the air, focused and sudden, striking the river’s surface — then rising again with nothing. Failure, the man realized, was not embarrassment here. The bird simply returned to the branch — alert, unashamed, ever-vigilant. In this he understood — nature did not measure worth by outcome, only by endeavor. To genuinely apply oneself was enough.
As the sun warmed him, he felt the old weight loosen. Trees stood without apology. The river ran unabashed. He left the water’s edge seemingly unchanged, but something essential had shifted. The world was not asking him to be certain, only to be fully present—to keep moving, even when empty-beaked, toward the next bend.
stone keeps the river
learning the shape of patience—
time blinks — stone remains
Original DDE™ art: “Maybe Next Time” by: rob kistner © 1/5/26
rob kistner © 1/5/26
Evocative and vivid, Rob! An Epiphany well experienced!
Thank you Frank. This bones of this came from a discussion my son and I had over the Christmas holidays, regarding how a man is remembered. By his success, or by his persistence.
This is beautiful, Rob. I love your kingfisher! Nature is filled with epiphanies, if we take time to see them!
Thank you so much Dwight! It took a number of varied code chain commands to get my DDE™ program to capture what I envisioned for my Kingfisher, but it finally obeyed, and with a little final editing, I was happy with the result. 🙂
Thank you Dwight!
Rob, your epiphany shifts my perspective in a valuable way. Your haibun is so skillfully written. I also love the kingfisher. I think your DDE is a wonderful enhancing tool.
Thank you Lisa! I genuinely appreciate your kind words. My DDE™ is a digital command and control string I’ve conceived, to employ as an interface to MidJourney, with a final editing capability. It allows me significant fine tuning, 90-95 %, front end and back end, to achieve the desired final image. It takes persistence, but it allows me to work in a variety of artistic styles — and is quite satisfying creatively.
Wise and beautiful.
I genuinelly appreciate your kind words Rosemary… 🙂
Your measuring by nature, is sooo very interesting
Happy New 2026
Much love
Happy New Year to you Gillena, and much love back… 🙂
Happy New Year, Rob! I think the best epiphanies happen in nature. I love the idea of the water forgetting its hurry and learning to slow down’, and the way the kingfisher cuts into your prose as well as the air – as kingfishers do – and the stunning haiku.
Kim, you are so kind my friend — thank you! 🙂
I love your haibun, Rob!
Yvette M Calleiro 🙂
http://yvettemcalleiro.blogspot.com
Thank you so much Yvette! 🙂