As if there were such a thing…
Here are last week’s seven haiku, and where they were mailed to.
haiku 20230904 » Centennial, CO USA
my neighbor shares
the latest gossip
names I still don't know
haiku 20230905 » San Francisco, CA USA
pulling up weeds
between patio stones
tiny tiny roots
haiku 20230906 » Cincinnati, OH USA
morning sun
through the window
I am saved again
haiku 20230907 » Berkeley, CA USA
dawn meditation
a squirrel running
along the fence
haiku 20230908 » Castle Rock, CO USA
morning light
the buddha's shadow
reaches the far wall
haiku 20230909 » Los Angeles, CA USA
the cat knows better
and refuses my call --
late rising moon
haiku 20230910 » Long Beach, CA USA
late summer sunday
plump figs dangling
from our neighbor's tree
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
If that’s your thing… https://www.instagram.com/haikuandy/
Starting a couple of weeks ago, I’ve been creating “reels” of the seven haiku. Check it out!
Buy haiku books
I heartily recommend all the books below. I get no commission, no nothing if you buy through my links. (Amazon Associates gave me the boot because I didn’t move enough merchandise. Oh well.)
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 the sake at 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 work, and I love his versions. Buy it here.
Really enjoyed reading your haikus and seeing such a fun range in your photos/visuals. Also, the haiku book list/resources you included is just fantastic--I had no idea about Goldberg’s book on haiku but I will check that out soon. The structure of this weekly project seems so clever, ideal and just a really unique way to honor the humble haiku. 🙏✨🤓