Writers Got Zen.

First baseball game in
Weeks–thanks to sweet, free tickets …
Please, God: no rainstorms?
–Ken, July 6 2009

Stars wink in the dark
syncopated lightning bugs
flirting with the moon
–Rose Seemann, June 2009

from the Denver Post Weekly Haiku Contest

Why do I give a whole page to haiku?

I recently estimated that I write about half a million words per year.

In my writing career so far, in fact,  I’ve almost certainly passed the 7,000,000 word mark by now.

Frankly, I’m glad no one’s keeping track. Least of all, me. These days it’s less often that I grow tired of writing what other people want. But about ten years ago, when it happened a lot, I found a very effective and simple (and most enjoyable) practice to restore my passion for the value of every word I write.

To balance and clear away all those words…

I write haiku. I understand that many serious poets hold a certain disdain for the form… ever tried it yourself? The hands of a master can turn haiku into great poetry, but I believe its true purpose is to clear the mind. I’m no Buddhist, but after spending a day or three at my desk–wandering lost in a forest of too many possible words–haiku are very much like sweeping away a carpet of dry leaves away to see one delicate, perfect seedling which expresses that place far more elegantly than could many books about it.

I think that Ikebana, the Japanese art of arranging flowers and plants, is quite similar in application and intention. May have to give that a try, next. But we’re talking haiku.

Choose each word oh, so… patiently.

The highly restrained, disciplined form is good for stretching the vocab muscles of your brain. Anyway, I thought it would be fun to start sharing all my new haiku here on this dedicated page. If you love haiku as much as I, please feel welcome to bookmark this page and visit whenever you like.

Update: I’ve moved my haiku archive onto the site!

Should you ever see two haiku posted here, one will be my own original and the other a favorite I’ve found somewhere in the expansive web of forums and sites dedicated to this art. Funny or funky, modern or traditional, I like to find haiku that shake up my view of the form. When I post someone else’s haiku, it will always be with proper attribution. Credit where credit is due, don’t you know.

Once again, to save you scrolling back up yonder…

Today’s Haiku for You:

First baseball game in
Weeks–thanks to sweet, free tickets …
Please, God: no rainstorms?
–Ken, July 6 2009

Stars wink in the dark
syncopated lightning bugs
flirting with the moon
–Rose Seemann, June 2009

from the Denver Post Weekly Haiku Contest