When I returned to school as a "mature" student, my quest for a Bachelor's degree and Teaching credential took most of my time and even more of my limited intellectual resources - with precious little of either left for leisure reading. But I hate being caught out at odd times with nothing to read. You know those times when for one reason or another you end up with extra time - not enough to do something constructive but enough to drive you crazy.
So I began to carry a book of poetry wherever I went.
(A practice I continue to this day)
(A practice I continue to this day)
Most poetry collections have the virtue of being small and portable while still offering real gems that can be read when time, and concentration, are limited.
It was also at this time that I developed a love of Haiku, first reading, then writing.
Successful Haiku capture and share the essence of an experience rather than a describing it. This is both the strength of the form and its challenge. For many folks, including myself, the time spent with each tiny, exquisite poem can also easily become a meditation.
Matsuo Basho remains a giant in the field, and I'm saving my pennies to purchase Basho's Journey: The Literary Prose Of Matsuo Basho.
A crow
has settled on a bare branch -
autumn evening.
- - Matsuo Basho
Early on I became quite enamored of some of the ladies. Two of my favorite volumes are, Chiyo-ni Woman Haiku Master and Far Beyond the Field: Haiku By Japanese Women.
to be in a world
eating white rice
amid plum fragrance
- - Chiyo-ni
one naked baby
is all I've got
and I pray
- - Ishibashi Hideno
I've also come across a few surprises along the way. For instance, did you know that Jack Kerouac wrote Haiku?
Trying to study sutras,
the kitten on my page
Demanding attention
- - Jack Kerouac
Some other favorites include:
The Haiku Year, a compilation of Haiku written by some surprising people, one for each day of the year.
No desire
to read the news -
my life's enough for now
- - Jim McKay
Haiku U., by David M. Bader, makes literary allusion fun.
The Sun Also Rises
"Why can't we?" she said.
"War wound," I said. "Oy," Cohn said.
Back to Harry's Bar.
- - Ernest Hemingway (sort of)
Then there's If Not For The Cat, Haiku for children, by Jack Prelutsky.
When I raise my tail,
Expressing my displeasure,
Even wolves make tracks.
- - Jack Prelutsky
The Essential Haiku, ed. Robert Hass & The Haiku Anthology, ed. Cor Van Den Heuvel, are also mainstays.There are many interesting links out there: online journals, poetry societies . . . Here are just a few.
