For the month of February, I have been invited to be the guest haiku poet featured on the daily haiku page of Mann Library at Cornell University. (Maybe you’ve heard of it? Ivy League joint? Yes? No?)
This invitation is a huge honor for me, especially as a poet who rarely submits his haiku to publications or contests. (The online aspect of my haiku project renders them ineligible for such, unfortunately, otherwise I would be a submitting madman.) A huge thanks to Tom Clausen for inviting me.
Cornell University holds a special place in my identity as a poet and writer.
As a student at Ithaca College, I took the Creative Writing Workshop at Cornell two summers in a row. The first time was to make up credits I lost when I transferred to Ithaca after a difficult freshman year in Boston, the second was because the first experience was so rewarding.
Both years, I immediately felt out of my league. Still an undergrad from the “lesser” school on the other hill, most of the other students were Cornell grad students, and in a couple of cases, professional writers well past college age.
That I was accepted based on the strength of the writing samples attached to my application (the professor’s personal approval was required) made me feel like I’d never felt before.
Acceptance as a writer, by other writers, by (dare I say?) peers?
Now some four decades later, maybe I need to extend an overdue thank you to Robert Morgan, who led the workshop the second year, for his grace and encouragement. Thank you, good sir. Your words still help keep me going to this day.
Anyway, I hope you check it out. I’ll be posting public links on my Facebook page daily.
Without further ado…
haiku 20240122 » Lagunitas, CA USA
the incandescent glow
of our neighbors' windows
a week of rain
haiku 20240123 » Kingston, MA USA
forest dew
my feet and the dog's paws
return soaked
haiku 20240124 » Santa Cruz, CA USA
weeks of rain
a puddle rises up
around each step
haiku 20240125 » Greenwich, CT USA
the moon this morning
thru clouds and bare branches
I want for nothing
haiku 20240126 » Alameda, CA USA
hotel lobby
framed vintage photos
from the gold rush days
haiku 20240127 » Marina del Rey, CA USA
squawk! squawk! squawk!
feral parrots complaining
on dolores street
haiku 20240128 » San Rafael, CA USA
weekend drive
the dog's nose
out the window
That’s all seven! See you next week! And remember…
I STILL want to send you a card
It’s kinda weird you read my Substack but haven’t requested a card yet. I don’t get it. Please ask! It’s free. I ask nothing in return, aside from your good graces or maybe a cup of coffee if you’re so inclined.
Follow me on Instagram
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And I’m posting reels of each week’s haiku postcards on Instagram. The “live” photos feature lets you see my sloppy attempts to angle in on the best shot. Check it out!
Recommended reading
I heartily recommend all the books below. I get no commission, zip zero nada, if you buy through my links. (Amazon Associates gave me the boot because I didn’t move enough merch. Oh well.)
Haiku: An Anthology of Japanese Poems, Stephen Addiss/Fumiko Y. Yamamoto/Akira Y. Yamamoto
With the exception of The Haiku Anthology (see below), this was the first haiku anthology I bought when I first started sending out haiku cards. I stumbled across this small, beautiful book, while making my requisite writer’s pilgrimage to Shakespeare’s Books in Paris (ooh la la). The richness and scope between the covers in this little book is simply amazing, featuring over 102 poets, many more if you include anonymous authors. It’s my go-to when packing for a trip. Buy it here.
The Haiku Anthology (Third Edition), Edited by Cor van den Heuvel
Want to know what modern English-language haiku really looks like? What it is capable of? Here is your answer, and a must for every haiku poet’s bookshelf. When I first started writing haiku, this volume served me very well. Many of the haiku within have remained with me throughout the years, and I have been privileged to now count some of the contributors as colleagues and friends. Buy it here.
Three Simple Lines: A Writer’s Pilgrimage into the Heart and Homeland of Haiku, Natalie Goldberg
Many writers will immediately recognize Goldberg from her forever bestselling Writing Down the Bones. As it happens, she has been writing haiku for her entire adult life, and has much to teach us. In Three Simple Lines, she intertwines memoir, history, and travelogue in a magnificent way as she journeys through Japan, chasing down the ghosts of Bashō and Buson, among others. She also draws much needed attention to women haiku poets, who were too often overshadowed by their male contemporaries. Buy it here.
Mountain Tasting - Haiku and Journals of Santoka … (tr. John Stevens)
I found Santoka challenging at first. Much of his haiku feels incomplete to me or dashed off. But he grew on me. Soon I felt like a companion on his journey, bouncing from inn to inn, begging for alms by day, pounding sake by night. Buy it here.
The Essential Haiku - Versions of Bashō, Buson, & Issa
Essential is right! Edited by Robert Hass, a great poet in his own right. Hass includes great essays on the history and evolution, as well as other writings by the poets themselves. A true master class in haiku! Buy it here.
Narrow Road to the Interior and Other Writings, Matsuo Bashō (tr. Sam Hamill)
Haiku poets have a tradition of wandering the countryside, and Bashō set the example! Buy it here.
Selected Poems, Masaoka Shiki (tr. Burton Watson)
I wrote a whole post about Shiki. Haiku might not exist today without his influence and renewal of the form. Buy it here.
Issa's Best: A Translator's Selection of Master Haiku, Issa Kobayashi (tr. David G. Lanoue)
Issa is probably the most beloved of the classic poets. His humility and joy in the face of unbearable loss and poverty endear him to haiku lovers everywhere. Lanoue seems to have made translating Issa his life’s mission, and I love his versions. Buy it here.
Wonderful news! Congratulations! 🎉