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      April 25, 2025Kat Lehmann[beyond the bed] and Other Haiku

       
       
       
       
       
      beyond the bed
      a lilt of voices live
      my former life
       
       
       
       
       
      gathering dark
      telling the children
      I can’t
       
       
       
       
       
      clinic exam
      the one-fits-all
      of paper pants
       
       
       
       
       
      blood letting each use and disclosure
       
       
       
       
       
      torn vein
      I make a Pollock
      of the sheets
       
       
       
       
       
      pulse oximeter
      the data but also
      the hypothesis
       
       
       
       
       
      blue
      butterfly
      needle
      tip
      of
      the
      scar
      on
      this
      rem
      ain
      ing
      ve
      in
      .
       
       
       
       
       
      river cloud
      the X of this body
      unsolvable
       
       
       
       
       
      left less than a cloudless sulfur adrift in an illness
       
       
       
       
       

      from No Matter How It Ends a Bluebird's Song

      Kat Lehmann

      “I became ill experiencing sudden and severe side effects with nothing to do but hope for time’s restoration. Writing these haiku became a means of journaling, documentation, expression, and healing. The narrative utilizes a range of contemporary haiku sub-genres and structures, including single-line haiku (traditional in Japanese), concrete haiku, tercets, and what I call ‘beautiful monsters’ without name. Some of the poems use seemingly impossible language to convey a real experience. Haiku, as a minimalistic art form, invites the reader to be an active participant in the poem’s unfolding. For those new and not-new to contemporary haiku, I hope you enjoy the collaboration.”

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