It's Hard Out Here for a Haijin
All seven daily haiku from Haiku Andy 07.01.24 - 07.07.24
We’ve been suffering through a serious heat wave here in the Sierra Foothills. Our central air conditioner broke down and needs replacing. We dillied and dallied while doing our research and getting bids, etc., and as a result, have been without AC for about a month. (The new one is coming this week.)
In other words, if you’re wondering why this post is so late, I blame the weather.
haiku 20240701 (Oakland, CA USA)
sweeping the stoop
an unhappy spider
amid the debris
haiku 20240702 (Toronto, Ontario Canada)
donner pass
how lovely to see
snow in high summer
haiku 20240703 (Clayton, MO USA)
a plastic bucket
full of pulled weeds
carbon capture
haiku 20240704 (Coimbra, Portugal)
cool of the evening
cats sitting against
the window screen
haiku 20240705 (Coimbra, Portugal)
cloudless dawn
trees on the ridge
already catching sun
haiku 20240706 (Lake City, FL USA)
july heat
pale husks of
grape hyacinth
haiku 20240707 (Wrentham, MA USA)
cat's food dish
full of ants
they're hungry too
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.
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I also post reels of each week’s haiku postcards on Instagram. The “live” photos feature reveals 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.)
Milkweed: Selected Haiku & Senryu, by Alexis Rotella
I kinda-sorta reviewed this must-have collection in my post Milkweed by Alexis Rotella: A Master Class. Buy it here.
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. 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. 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.
Hello Dusty! Not sure. I ran out of addresses back in July. In fact, I have a handful of haiku postcards yet to be mailed, but for lack of recipients. Since then I've been scrambling to finish the second draft of a novel. I may be back -- it's a project I love -- but I need the motivation of someone to send them to. If you know someone who might enjoy a card, DM their address and I'll get it out forthwith! Thanks for asking, it means a lot.
Checking in - will you be back Andy?