Jane Reichhold, editor and publisher of the excellent linking journal Lynx, is our Haiku - Three Questions guest this week. Jane is also an artist, author, poet (of many forms), and publisher of numerous books.
To learn more about this remarkable lady, visit Aha Poetry.
1. Why do you write haiku?
Because they appear on my inner horizon and out of gratitude for the gift of insight or understanding, I write the poem down. I feel a certain obligation to take care of the haiku given to me by recording them, sharing them with others, and publishing them. I feel that in order to be given haiku I need to hold my inner antenna up in a very precise way. By being open and accepting of all I experience, by being attentive to the moment in which I find myself, and by being grateful for, not only the haiku, but for every thing and every one who touches my life, I believe even more, and perhaps even better, haiku will be given to me. I often put myself into places or situations where this inner attitude is easiest to maintain, as when visiting new and interesting places or viewing the full moon set or watching the several hours it takes for an iris to open.
2. What other poetic forms do you enjoy?
I have written and enjoyed about every poetry form that is known, but I return most often to writing haiku and with the deepest pleasure.
3. Of the many wonderful haiku you've written, what do you consider to be your top three? (Please provide original publication credits.)
Now the questions get really hard! Which gift is the best when the Giver is the greatest? The one most often published, after appearing in A Dictionary of Haiku, 1992, and The San Francisco Haiku Anthology: 1992 and The Haiku Anthology, 1999 by Cor van den Heuvel is:
coming home
flower
by flower
or
waiting for guests
a corner of the rug
keeps turning up
or, from A Dictionary of Haiku, 1992, and The San Francisco Haiku Anthology, 1992:
river fog
untying the boat
from a long pier
All the rest are available in the online version of A Dictionary of Haiku.
Next week, Werner Reichhold visits Blogging Along Tobacco Road.
Jane is a master of the form. I love her work!
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