Chapter 2 - Confessions of Joy - SNEAK PEEK at New Book

Here's your chance to get a look inside my new book of poetry, The Lily & The Aster, including a look at haiku and short poems:

Chapter 2: Confessions of Joy
1.
Each drumbeat
is a winged bird sent
off towards heaven.
2.
Nothing beats
playing a djembe
with the thunder.
3.
Dancing
breathing life
like the night air.
4.
Your song,
like one long exhale
thrown skyward.
5.
Your music journeyed
to a place unknown
to words.
6.
Your song
A confession
of joy.
7.
Your dance
transforming your beauty into
a butterfly.
8.
He is the Miles Davis of the djembe
Full of flourish and experiment
Classic but not derivative
Mastermind of the stage
His feats incongruous to the scale of his fame
His shortcomings lauded beside his accomplishments
And yet he is a perpetual enigma,
When he picks up that drum
His genius demonstrated in the spectrum of rhythm in his repertoire
Children respond instinctively
Elders swept into the beat
Dancers ensnared by the rhythms
All to create a cacophony of happy faces
Clamoring for more
9.
We listened to our music
and reveled in the sound.
We didn't take it for granted.
Music was a matter of fact.
It just was.
10.
So I'll seek rest and I'll listen
to the peaceful noise of gentle
rainfall and the threatening
tumble of thunder and be calmed
by the whistling whir of the
radio, the low thump and cradle
of easy blues music while I lay
fingertips pressed over closed
eyelids releasing the day's
unease.

Haiku poetry...

1.
In the stillness of
Day, watch the snow fall
Effortlessly.


2.
Under the pale stars,
A winter sky pregnant with
Possibility.


3.
The wind whispers
Hushed stories of bright days
And blue skies ahead.



....From The Lily & The Aster - available in stores April 2012.

More Haiku...

1.
A crater-faced
Moon is shy
Even with the stars.




2.
The fire-flies fix
Themselves in the sky
Feigning the stars.



3.
The sun and the moon
Like brother and sister
To the wind.

From The Lily & The Aster which will be available in stores April 2012 

The Lily & The Aster

Well, it's settled. My next book of poetry will be a book of haiku entitled The Lily & The Aster. In the coming months, I'll be sharing more haiku, other poetry, a book cover and much more. Tune in as these crucial elements take shape. The book is currently in production, specifically we're editing the book right now. This week's haiku precedes the travel essays which may be included in the book of haiku. Enjoy!

What coarse sands will

Pass under soft feet

On new shores?

Fed by cool, new rains

And blue fertile skies,

Will she bloom?

My feet find new

Rhythms on

Foreign soil.

Fall Haiku

Here is some fall inspired haiku for a frigid fall afternoon:

Fall leaves fly

Off the ground—

Little birds.

                                                                                *
                                                                               

Like a plume of smoke

Above a Cuban cigar—

This autumn sky.

                                                                       



                                                                                 *

A man with a horse:

His whisper caught on the wind

Murmurs of comfort.

Richard Wright - Haiku Poet

Did you know that well-known novelist, Richard Wright, who gave us Bigger Thomas in Native Son, is also a prolific haiku poet? Having written more than 4000 haiku and having published 817 haiku, Wright made a tremendous contribution to the genre during his lifetime. I do not doubt that Wright seems capable such poetic prowess given the plethora of artistic works he produced, but the clumsy, foolhardy nature of Bigger Thomas does not lend itself to poetry.

In his book, Haiku: This Other World, the best and most complete volume of haiku that I've read this year, Wright takes notes during his time in exile in France. He spends a year and a half observing his natural surroundings and putting that work into haiku form. What results is a stunning account of “This Other World.” The book is the most complete compilation of his haiku poetry, featuring 817 of his haiku poems.

Written at the end of Wright’s life, in exile and on the heels of the death of his mother Ella, his daughter Julia observed that his obsession with haiku was something of an effort “to spin these poems of light out of gathering darkness.”

What is special about Richard Wright’s haiku is that he has a neat way of turning a phrase and he has a way of making each haiku his own, of reflecting his particular viewpoint. At first glance, I wondered what the big deal was about a few short poems written about nature. As I got into the poetry, I discovered something provocative, artistic and playful about Wright’s haiku. His poetry had a particular magic about it and it captured something elusive. I also noticed that the pauses between each haiku were heavy – full of thought and reflection. This is typical of good haiku.

When reading Wright’s haiku, I found my own voice. I saw in Wright a great challenger, a sparring partner, of sorts. As soon as I came across one of Wright’s haiku that was perplexing or jarring, I tried to come up with something better written on the same topic. I tried to spin a phrase in an interesting manner, careful not to mimic Wright but inspired to write something better. For instance, I wrote the following:

The fog lifted its

Cold, wet feet to climb out of
The bay and up the hill.

Inspired by the following haiku by Wright:

My cold and damp feet
Feel as distant as the moon
On this autumn night.

Moreover, I wrote:

Every year the geese

Journey south and return with
Loud stories of pilgrimage.

Inspired by Wright’s:

High above the ship
On which immigrants sail,
Are departing geese.

To conclude, Richard Wright’s haiku poetry has been an inspiration for my entire book. His witty and imaginative haiku have truly brought out the best in me. You can find more of his haiku at the following link: http://terebess.hu/english/haiku/wright.html & you can find more of my haiku in my book due out April 2012.