Synopsis: Similarities between traditional Japanese haiku and these modern verses consist in the three-line format, images of nature, self-knowledge, and a fundamental fascination with brief, discrete moments in time.
Rhyme and rhythm are eschewed as are other typical poetic mannerisms. The reader is expected to explore a haiku poem seeking deeper meaning that issues from a final, contrasting line of sudden enlightenment.
The present collection of modern American Haiku was composed over a two-year period during which I spent vacation time at my sister's cabin in the hills of Tennessee, often went fishing, recalled my many cats' adventures, pondered nature and politics, and other curious truths sent to me in haiku form.
The six haiku categories presented here, therefore, cover a variety of subjects that I trust the reader will find both pleasurable and compelling.
Autobiography: Robb Hasencamp is a Catholic writer who graduated from the Southern Baptist Seminary, Kentucky, with an MDiv in theology and pastoral care.
He has lived and worked in Tallahassee; Washington, DC; Seattle; and Miami. His focus has been on corporate training and executive consulting, psychotherapy, and directing social service programs, notably a heroin detox center.
In addition to Modern American Haiku, he has published two other works: Jonathan, a novel, and Briefly Psalms, a devotional book. He now happily lives in St Petersburg, Florida, where fishing is his favorite pastime.
