1) Why do you write haiku?
Why not? It might be something to do with the fascination of what's difficult. I have an interest in Zen, and it may be that haiku is akin to the unravelling of a koan - not that I have ever unravelled one. I read somewhere that you have to write 100 bad haiku in order to write one good one - I sometimes think you have to write 100 bad drafts in order to arrive at one average one.
2) What other poetic forms do you enjoy?
I like senryu, although like many others, I find this barely distinguishable from haiku. And of mainstream poetry I tend to like specific poems rather than forms. If the poem works it has found its form. Kipling's "If" which is pretty well one sentence, just about says it all.
3) Of the many wonderful haiku you've written, what do you consider to be your top three?
I haven't written any wonderful haiku (yet!), but I'm still hoping for the one that will survive the next 500 years. The following will not, but my thanks to the editors who took them up.
bomb shelter -
my old belongings
huddle in the dark
(Heron's Nest vol.13.04 December 2011)
coming ashore
at their own pace -
oarsmen's ripples
(Paper Wasp 17(4) Spring 2011 and "Carving Darkness" (Red Moon Press, February 2012)
new dementia wing
Mum insists
on the guided tour
(Modern Haiku vol 43(1) winter/spring 2012)
If you are enjoying this series and have not contributed, please consider sharing your response - whether it be for haibun, haiku or tanka - to the three little questions that David answered. You must be a published poet to participate.