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the morning whispers
a subtle message prone to
interpretation

*
another repost of one that appears in the book.

wanting her happy
was always more important
than just wanting her

*
It’s Saturday, so this is another repost of a haiku that appears in the book — but in the book, this one was victimized by a printing error that changed the “than” in the third line to a “that.” Just something to keep in mind in case there’s ever a subsequent printing and the first edition becomes a valued collector’s item ;)

thinking of nothing
and nothing thinking of me
– hiding discreetly

*
Another repost that also appears in the book

could anything be
as real as the smile passing
between you and me?

*
Longtime regular readers may have noticed the return to an old habit — that is the posting of a daily haiku. That’s how my haiku habit originally began. So as not to thin out the haiku quality too much, I’m going to occasionally revive old entries. This would be such an entry.

“Soft light” was originally posted last year. It also appears in my book — which, if you haven’t yet bought it but are inclined to, is available from Amazon. It’s a bargain at $7.50 a copy. Better yet, all of its 2009 net royalties will be donated to Project H.O.M.E., which happens to be one of my favorite charities.

Of course, if you already have a copy of the book or you just aren’t interested in it, I’d still encourage you to make a donation to Project H.O.M.E. (or the charity of your choice, homeless or otherwise).

A while back I was motivated to put together some of the haiku I’d written as a gift for a friend. I scribbled about seventy verses as legibly as I could in a pocket-sized Moleskine cahier. It was well-received, much to my delight. My friend told me I should write a book of haiku. I pointed at the one in her hands and said that I just had written a book of haiku. She said she meant a real book.

While I’m not sure there’s much demand for a book of my haiku (or anything else, for that matter), I have been flattered on occasion by similar exhortations to write a real book. On the other hand, I think it was Flannery O’Connor who, when asked if she thought the universities stifled writers, replied that they didn’t stifle enough of them. As she said, “There’s many a best seller that could have been prevented by a good teacher.” – a sentiment I’m sure she’d have about the blogging phenomenon as well, had she lived to see it.

Flannery O’Connor’s loathing aside, I stumbled across a reasonably cheap, effective way to get my little book of haiku printed. So that’s what I did, adding a bit of non-haiku poetry to the end of it. It’s mostly done for family and a few friends who’ve expressed an interest in it, but it’s there for anyone else who may be interested as well.

If you want a copy (printed or downloadable), click here to pick one up from LuLu.com.

Or, if you might be inclined to offer me your own review of the book (as flattering or brutally honest as you like), I’d be glad to send you the downloadable version of the book for free. Let me know if you’re interested.

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