Paul David Mena is very active in the haiku community. Paul is the webmaster of The Heron's Nest and a member of the Metro West Renku Association. He maintains and writes poetry at his free verse web site and blog and his haiku web site and blog. Paul and his wife, Mary Melodee Mena, frequently collaborate and together have produced a number of striking haiga.
Paul shares his response to Haiku - Three Questions with us this week.
1. Why do you write haiku?
I actually wrote an article for GotPoetry.com called "Why do I haiku?" In it I say "The concise nature of haiku, which should never be longer than the length of a breath, constrains the writer to get to the point." I've been pressed for time for as long as I can remember; haiku enables me to paint a complete picture on the tiniest canvas, with no waste and no mess.
2. What other poetic forms do you enjoy?
I still write what I jokingly call "grown-up poetry", but I have a tendency to lose patience with myself. Unless I am working with a very strong image or experience I often lose focus and meander to an unexpected destination. I wrote the chapbook "trainsongs" when I first began commuting in Boston, and I'm still happy with much of the longer poetry I wrote during that period.
3. Of the many wonderful haiku you've written, what do you consider to be your top three? (Please provide original publication credits.)
These three haiku were published in "Brussels Sprout" in the early to mid-90's:
three jazz pianists
improvising
for ghosts
staring
at a blank sheet of paper —
a night without words
military jet
carves a white scar
in the sky
Next week, Kirsty Karkow.
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