“It began as a way to make my morning commute less horrible” said Sas. After a decade sharing the first hour of her day miles underground with thousands of strangers, she sought a creative way to “make the entire process a little more humane”.
Inspiration for the first haiku came from a man in an ill-fitting suit, waiting on the district line platform at Hammersmith. Sas observed his phone erupting with opening bars of Eye of the Tiger, and the words formed in her mind: The sort of man who wears his blackberry proudly in a belt holster. Sas said of the encounter, “It was like uncovering a secret”.
And so began a two-year practice. Each workday morning Sas would look around her tube carriage for “the most interesting someone”, then write a haiku. This simple act of looking up rekindled a long-lost sense of wonder: “The daily practice of writing a ‘Tubeku’ required me to be present, mindful, awake. These little poems helped me pay attention to my whole life”.
Sas has now compiled the best of her poems into a new book called Tubeku – Tiny Epic Tales From Underground. This beautifully designed love letter to London features 77 poems alongside stunning images of Underground stations, by London based photographers, Xanthe Berkeley and Jeanine Stewart.
The full-colour 104-page book has been released, priced at £24.99, (£6.99 for e-Book format) it is available from www.saspetherick.com/shop
100% of profits from the book will be donated to housing and homelessness charity, Shelter.
Sas Petherick is a cognitive life coach. Born in New Zealand, Sas came to London in 2002 in search of adventure. After almost twenty years of consulting as a senior change manager, she now lives next to the woods in Berkshire. For more information: www.saspetherick.com
