Sunday, January 18, 2009

Marjorie A. Buettner - Three Questions

Marjorie A. Buettner lives and writes in Minnesota. Her new collection of haiku and tanka is entitled Seeing It Now, published by Red Dragonfly Press. Marjorie's most recent journal publication credits are: Contemporary Haibun Online, Modern English Tanka, American Tanka, Simply Haiku, Ribbons, Gusts, Modern Haiku, and Frogpond. Her work has appeared in the following anthologies: Landfall, Ash Moon Anthology, Fire Pearls, Short Masterpieces of the Human Heart, County Roads, and The Tanka Prose Anthology. She also writes book reviews for moonset, Gusts, and Modern Haiku.



1) Why do you write haiku?

In Records of a Travel-Worn Satchel, Basho calls that special something inside which calls us to poetry a "wind-swept spirit." It is a deep calling and it seems I have been carried by this wind all of my life.

2) What other poetic forms do you enjoy?

I love to write tanka, sijo, haibun and sedoka; each form depends upon the needs of the moment as long as you see, as the Sufi poets say, "with the eyes of the heart".

3) Of the many wonderful haiku you've written, what do you consider to be your top three?


dark of the moon
the flavor of the hive
in the honey

(Third Place, Kusamakura International Haiku Competition, 2006)



winter rain —
finding that part of silence
which speaks to me

(Honorable Mention, Robert Spiess Memorial Haiku Award, 2005)



as if we could
change our lives . . .
summer moon

(Honorable Mention, Suruga-Baika 5th Literary Festival Award, 2003)



If you've been enjoying this weekly series and have not contributed, please consider sharing your response to the three little questions that Marjorie answered. You must be a published poet in order to participate.

John McDonald will be our guest next week.

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