ENJOY HAIKU
Session 1. Read & Enjoy Haiku
Insects on a bough
floating downriver,
still singing.
Issa
The poems of the early haiku masters of Japan reflect lives committed to practice and presence. Looking deeply into a handful of their haiku we seek to discover how their brief expressions can be so profound — even when humorous! This class covers enough history to make you curious, poetics to engage the senses and the opportunity to illuminate the depth of each poet’s work.
Session 2. Weathered Beauty
The sudden thunder
Startles the magnolias
To a deeper white.
Richard Wright
Ancient and modern haiku poets throughout the world draw from nature’s well to express the temporal beauty of our kinship and interdependence. In this session we look at the work of poets who lean into seasonal references that place humans in a living and replenishing world. This emphasis on the seasons offers poets the opportunity to reflect on a single moment of contact in an ever changing world.
Session 3. The Poetics of Haiku
I go,
you stay;
two autumns.
Buson
In this session we focus on how the art and craft of haiku contributes to it’s ability to express the subject and mind of the poet. What placement of a phrase or sound helps layer meaning in haiku? How does a poem engage the reader to discover their own mind within the words of the writer? With these questions and more we explore four centuries of writing with the shared mission of touching the heart and mind.
Session 4. Haiku and Humans
Undressed -
today's role dangles
from a metal hanger.
Alexa Rotella
We live in a world where we are increasingly cut off from nature and many modern haiku reflect this absence. Nevertheless our undressed nature shows up poems that at first glance appear to neglect a naked truth — we still long for something more than a role in the human drama. These poets express both the irony and truth of this thirst.
*all classes available throught 2025
