FIVE HAIKU IN SPRING
in this world of pain,
even half a rainbow, even one
cherry blossom.
first day of spring—
a guitar case
full of change.
no offerings,
my wooden bowl
awaits the morning dew.
an afternoon in spring—
don’t think your life
didn’t matter.
to have died
and come back again,
cherry blossoms.
—from Rattle #71, Spring 2021
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Deborah A. Bennett: “I began writing haiku shortly after I began reading it about ten years ago. The inspiring book I found at a library book sale was The Essential Haiku, edited by Robert Hass. I’d read and written free verse since I was a child but here was the form I found my identity in. A form rooted in Zen alertness and in close observation of nature. Haiku says so much with so little, and I think that’s what most fascinates me. Not only finding the words, but also the silence.” (web)
