Milkweed by Alexis Rotella: A Master Class
All seven daily haiku from Haiku Andy 04.22.24 - 04.28.24
Full disclosure: My fanship (fandom? fanism?) of Alexis Rotella's work extends back many years. I first came upon her work in The Haiku Anthology (Third Edition), where it jumped off the page. In brief, she greatly expanded for me what haiku could do, where it could go.
In the years since, seeing her work pop up in haiku journals is always a special joy. It is neverless than surprising.
So I was overjoyed when Brooks Books published Milkweed: Selected Haiku & Senryu. How rare to find a collection without a single poem that is common or ordinary. Each page is a delight, but the best part for me is something I hadn't picked up from reading her poems in journals: her incredible range.
Sometimes she is classical in the most Japanese sense:
Two leaves
touch in the pond
then separate
In my book, this is up there with the best of BashÅ or Buson.
Sometimes she highlights poignant moments in complex human entanglements:
After an affair
sweeping
all the rooms
Here she provides the reader with a blank screen onto which one may project our own satisfaction, guilt, or sexual imagination.
Sometimes I can't tell if she is adding poignancy to humor or humor to poignancy:
Morning coffee
she reads his
horoscope first
I am not usually a fan of punning in haiku or senryu (which eliminates a lot of senryu, in general, for me), but I couldn't resist chuckling at:
The nun
picks her nose
old habit
Right?
Anyway, I can't recommend this collection enough, especially if you are new to haiku and want to see what haiku can do, what haiku from a real master looks, tastes, and feels like.
Here are last week's haiku postcards, and where they were mailed to...
haiku 20240422 (San Francisco, CA USA)
earth day
pine needles underfoot
dry and slippery
haiku 20240423 (Menai Bridge, Anglesey UK)
wind rustling
my neighbors' aspens
full spring again
haiku 20240424 (Los Angeles, CA USA)
I have no choice
but to stop and look
dogwood blossoms
haiku 20240425 (Addison, TX USA)
a light rain
darkens the patio
I build a small fire
haiku 20240426 (Keighley, West Yorkshire UK)
donation bin
letting go of the coat
I used to be
haiku 20240427 (Allentown, PA USA)
still mostly bright
I miss them already
dogwood blossoms
haiku 20240428 (Alameda, CA USA)
a cloud of bees working
a cloud of blossoms
wild apple trees
Thatâs all seven! See you next week! And rememberâŠ
I STILL want to send you a card
Itâs kinda weird you read my Substack but havenât requested a card yet. I donât get it. Please ask! Itâs free. I ask nothing in return, aside from your good graces or maybe a cup of coffee if youâre so inclined.
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I also post reels of each weekâs haiku postcards on Instagram. The âliveâ 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 didnât 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 writerâs pilgrimage to Shakespeareâs 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. Itâs 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 poetâs 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 Writerâs 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 BashÅ 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 BashÅ, 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 BashÅ (tr. Sam Hamill)
Haiku poets have a tradition of wandering the countryside, and BashÅ 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 lifeâs mission, and I love his versions. Buy it here.
All of these haikus are beautiful, the ones you've read of and the ones you've sent. Lovely work!
Thank you for sending a haiku to my mom! She just got it in the mail today.