Ian Daw - Three Questions

Ian Daw has been writing haiku for over five years and has been published in a number of journals and anthologies. He is currently at work on his first collection.

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1) Why do you write haiku?

There's a strange perfection to a good haiku, it seems to show you how very much you don't understand and never suspected, when it takes the world right out from under you. This moment is usually presented in terms of tranquility and enlightenment, but in a way its extremely unsettling. In writing haiku I'm attempting to pursue and hopefully achieve that quality, but coupled to darker, more visceral imagery.

2) What other poetic forms do you enjoy?

Originally I read and wrote free verse, but after I read some tanka by Borges I got more and more interested in the idea of compaction.

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


I don't know about wonderful, but I do have my favourites.


cracked mirror -
a part of my face
falls through

New Resonance 4



out of a nightmare -
all these bones
in my chest

Acorn 18



first incision -
a sparrow vanishes
in the sun

Roadrunner VI:4


Many thanks,

Ian

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If you've been enjoying this weekly series and have not contributed, please consider sharing your response (whether it be for haiku or tanka) to the three little questions that Ian answered. You must be a published poet to participate.