Note on Published Work

Several months ago, I started taking haiku study a bit more seriously and now practice it regularly. I very much enjoy various dimensions of the haiku process—open and curious awareness, freedom from control and the need to explain it all, and much more. Creating an approachable piece while leaving room for readers is at the core of haiku art as it is traditionally a communal activity.

I discovered the Poetry Pea, an incredibly helpful podcast. It shares haiku written by traditional and contemporary authors and offers workshops on useful techniques. As part of my engagement with it, I occasionally submit work on a theme that we practice together with many other haiku students. During my walks on a small hill above my house, I found inspiration for these two haiku which were later published in the Poetry Pea Journal 2:23.

Poem: the smell of manure
a blossoming elderberry
rural summer

Poem: broken
by its own weight—
thistle

I hope not to be like this thistle ☺️!

Then, the Poetry Pea Journal 1:24 printed

Poem: no footprints
on snow-covered banks
water’s murmur

and most recently, the following haiku appeared in the Poetry Pea Journal 2:24

Poem: distant hills
soften into the dark—
first star

It was inspired by evenings at my place, and I really enjoyed working on it. This one became one of the judge’s choices and received a commentary in the podcast. Even though I submit to journals for practice purposes, seeing that some haiku get selected is really nice since it indicates that it can speak to other people in one way or another, and not just to me. That is important for poetry practice such as haiku.

I’m looking forward to the upcoming months of deepening practice in the arts of the Zen practice, haiku poetry, and calligraphy. This year, I’d like to spend more time exploring haibun—prose mixed with haiku. If you’d like to see an example of haibun, here’s a wonderful piece that I really enjoyed reading. It’s called The Long View and was written by Jenny Ward Angyal.