Daily Haiku: March 22, 2023

lost . . .

looking for the path

among the stars

 

 

by Daniela Rodi (Finland)

ESUJ-H-English Haiku, Jan. 30, 2023

 

Daily Haiku: March 21, 2023

morning moon
the tornado’s aftermath
in the trailer park

 

by Lenard D. Moore (USA) 

Daily Haiku: March 20, 2023

art studio

a full day’s work

under my nails

by Annette Makino (USA)

Editor’s Choices

The Heron’s Nest, Vol. XXIII, No. 2,  June 2021

Daily Haiku: March 19, 2023

in our doorway

a man reads to me

a bible passage

by Tom Clausen (USA)

Frogpond, Vol. XXX, No. 1, 2007

Brilliant Thoughts by Poets on the “Intelligence of the Heart”

I gathered haikuists’ thoughts for this blog, www.charlottedigregorio.wordpress.com, asking respondents to comment on one of Robert Spiess’s speculations from his book, “A Year’s Speculations on Haiku,” Modern Haiku, 1995:

“Haiku are written best and appreciated best through the intelligence of the heart.” (June third).

 

My question: How do you interpret “the intelligence of the heart”?

 

I received thirty-two responses that I’ve published for this survey. (I also received four responses from poets who didn’t address themselves to the question.)

 

I’ve edited many of the responses published for word economy. Strangely enough, as haiku poets, we avoid wordiness, but perhaps not so much when writing prose.

 

Some poets chose to answer the question with an example or a haiku, rather than write a statement, and these were acceptable, of course.

 

Responses:

 

Let me acknowledge at the outset that human beings in the West have, over millennia, expanded the body of knowledge in the arts and sciences in ways that are undeniably stunning and awe-inspiring.  However, knowledge is not synonymous with intelligence, which manifests through a variety of means, including the heart.

 

Intelligence of the heart, rooted in sensitivity, is a spontaneous felt-sense of care and compassion for those in need, including oneself.  Both humans and non-humans possess this capacity in varying degrees. I remember many years ago, a five-year-old girl walking with her mother on a busy street in Manhattan. As they passed a butcher shop with slaughtered chickens and other animal carcasses hanging in the store window, the young girl––visibly distressed––asked her mother if those chickens were like the ones they ate for dinner.  Her mother—an honest parent—confessed they were. On the spot, this young girl, drawing on her innate intelligence of the heart at the tender age of five, vowed never to eat dead chickens again.

 

Likewise, I read a news article that recounted how a rescue dog led firefighters into a house aflame and up the stairs to the second floor where a toddler was lying in her crib.  She was saved by the family dog’s natural intelligence of the heart.  

 

Who knows whether we humans and non-humans would still be on the planet were it not for the combination of ingenuity and intelligence of the heart.  In any case, suffice it to say, I am passionately committed to living with heart—that is, with loving kindness, care, and compassion—which draws me back to what Buddhists call the One, and the poet Rilke refers to as the Whole. In the Whole lies the preservation of the world, to borrow from Henry Thoreau, the Transcendentalist author of “Walden.”

 

Robert Epstein (USA)

 

  

I’m reading “Where Rain Would Stay: The Haiku Poetry of Peggy Willis Lyles,” a collection edited by John Barlow and Ferris Gilli. 

 

I think Peggy said it best in a conversation I had with her many years ago: “Haiku is the shortest distance between two hearts.” To some, that may sound a bit too cute or Hallmarky. But I think it rings true. A successful haiku has a lightning effect – that instant connection. It functions on multiple levels, but key among them is at the heart level. One might even argue at the gut level, meaning there needs to be a visceral, sensory response upon reading it.  It’s not all mental gymnastics. If a poem doesn’t make the reader feel something, what good is it?

 

“The intelligence of the heart,” in the writing of haiku is an unconscious knowing. It is a realm akin to the state between waking and sleeping – when truth is closest to the surface. For me, it’s the time of early morning when I write most often. The intelligence of the heart is knowing when and how to open oneself to life’s myriad experiences. And having the time and space to write down the words, carry them in your head until their truth sorts itself out and becomes clear. A haiku, after all, is a homespun thing. The best ones impart some kind of emotional intelligence to both writer and reader.

Peter Newton (USA)

 

  

“The haikuist’s soul is found in the heart.”

I understand from Howard Gardner’s seminal research that we each possess multiple intelligences. Some of us have linguistic intelligence to help us write poetry, others mathematical intelligence to focus on or away from the 5-7-5 form, and a few have musical intelligence to help us write rhythmically. I surmise that “the intelligence of the heart” refers to a way of perceiving and experiencing the world that is not solely based on rational or logical thinking, but also involves emotions, intuition, and empathy. 

Intelligence of the heart suggests that haiku, which often express nature and human experiences in a succinct and evocative way, are best understood and appreciated when approached with an open and receptive heart, rather than just with the intellect. 

Charlotte chose a phrase that seems to imply that the heart contains our soul and has an intelligence that can enhance our understanding and appreciation of art and life in general.

David McMurray (Japan)

 

 

My computer dictionary defines “intelligence” as “the ability to acquire and apply knowledge and skills.” Bob Spiess’s speculation suggests that human intelligence resides not only in the brain, as we might expect, but also in the heart (and possibly other organs as well). I take Bob’s suggestion to mean that haiku originating primarily in the brain may rely on egoism, cleverness, and immediate impact, whereas haiku generated through “intelligence of the heart” are superior inasmuch as they embody humanity, empathy, and reflection. 

 

 

Charles Trumbull (USA)

 

 

I interpret the word “heart” as a stand-in for emotion, and “intelligence” would infer mediation. As such, a haiku written from the basis of an emotional response to something experienced through the senses has the possibility, when read, of producing a similar emotional response in the reader.

I tend to agree that if a haiku only produces an intellectual response, it would likely leave the reader less attached to it—unless the intellectual response is to something brilliantly clever. On the whole, though, something that induces an emotional response in a reader would generally be more appealing.

 

 

Maxianne Berger (Canada)

 

 

Bob accurately expresses two important things in his statement: 1) The heart knows things and does so in a different way than the mind knows things. 2) This “intelligence of the heart” allows writers and readers to understand important truths through haiku. While the mind’s intelligence can be very important for the craft of writing haiku, it is important to pair it with the heart’s intelligence. Does that make the heart’s intelligence the best way to write and appreciate haiku? I’m not comfortable with the opposition implied here. The heart’s intelligence is a wonderful way to write and appreciate. That intelligence paired with the mind’s intelligence is also wonderful.

 

 

Ce Rosenow (USA)

 

 

 

The best haiku just “happen” in their full expression (or nearly so), and are not written in the usual sense. Such haiku are like the insights that appear in dreams. The intelligence of the heart bears the epiphany, the surprise, the gift when separate images collide in a flash of emotion. The intelligence of the heart pays fierce attention, all the while we do not; it is the source and storehouse of intuition, inspiration, memory, imagination.

 

 

after she leaves

the weight

of hanging apples        

 

Frogpond, 34.3, Fall 2011

 

 

Marsh Muirhead (USA)

 

 

 

The heart has been romanticized by humans throughout the ages. A rather lumpish organ linked to our strongest emotions, including love. The brain is the seat of intelligence and rational thought. So what does Spiess mean when he uses the phrase the “intelligence of the heart”? Maybe he is speaking of linking our analytical mind and our emotional mind. While the amygdala is the processing center for human emotion, in this instance, it and the sentimentalized heart are one and the same.

Rational thought and overthinking—the human need to understand and make sense of everything—can, at times, be the bane of an artist.  Making the natural world an object of study apart from ourselves, instead of simply observing and immersing ourselves in our natural surroundings, can rob us of joy. At least, I have found this true.

Scientific study is, of course, necessary to better understand our world and our place in it, but an overly analytical mind can be detrimental to the artistic process and the enjoyment of art. Russian-French Artist Marc Chagall said, “If I create from the heart, nearly everything works; if from the head, almost nothing.” 

There is a fine balance between approaching art with both our mind and our heart. Sometimes it is best to let the heart take over. Approaching haiku with our emotions with childlike wonder, helps us to experience the world anew. No easy task, to be sure, but I think this is what Spiess meant, and it is what I strive for.

Terri French (USA)

 

 

Perhaps “intelligence of the heart” is the closest we come (in the West) to the Japanese concept of “kokoro,” a word that connects the mind, body and spirit. It is understanding the interconnectedness of everything.

 

Terry Ann Carter (Canada)

 

 

 

When I first met my husband, he asked me what was more important, the mind or the heart. I told him I thought it was both, combined in a union of opposites. I suppose this is what the Japanese call “kokoro.” This sense of mind/heart union has haunted me and inspired me throughout my haiku journey. I know I haven’t reached the perfection of this quest, but I strive; I will always strive. 

 

Marjorie Buettner (USA)

 

 

 

An expressive Eastern idea. Today, in our dog-eat-dog society, one may assume our hearts and minds are separate, that the two represent opposite binaries. The concept of intelligence of the heart makes me think of a person’s emotional quotient, measuring intellect in terms of ability to process feelings and demonstrate empathy. Haiku and senryu often articulate struggles with, for example, grief, ageism, poverty, (social justice), and animal rights. Haikuists rely on their astute observations and heart-felt thoughts. Certainly, the forms’ foundations in Zen Buddhism, with its tenets of ahimsa and karma involve heart and intellect for composing meaningful poetry.

 

Jerome Berglund (USA)

 

 

It’s a great question.

 

I interpret “the intelligence of the heart” to mean that while some analytical understanding comes into play with haiku, what is far more important is an emotional identification with the world grasped in the poem. The primal identification involved might also be described as empathy, awe, reverence, and/or gratitude, depending on the haiku.

 

 

Barry George (USA)

 

 

 

 

When I read a haiku and there is that immediate sense of “yes, of course, that is exactly right,” when I intuitively recognize it as true – that is the “intelligence of the heart.”  It is like a lightning bolt of understanding. I may or may not be able to articulate how or why it works. The logic of the heart operates differently from the logic of the mind. It is not necessarily fact-based. It’s intuitive. It makes emotional sense.

 

But the best haiku do more than appeal to our emotions. There is an intelligence at work. They operate on multiple levels, calling upon different senses, speaking to our experience or our dreams, our memories or our history. They reach through time. 

 

Think of Basho’s haiku, “summer grasses” —

 

Summer grasses —

traces of dreams

of ancient warriors

Haruo Shirane (translation)

 

 

Or,  Buson’s haiku about his wife’s comb —

 

piercingly cold

stepping on my dead wife’s comb

in the bedroom

Haruo Shirane (translation)

 

 

Or, the unerring truth in Taneda Santōka’s —

 

the road’s so straight it’s lonely

Hakudō Inoue (translation)

 

 

In recent years, scientists have discovered that the heart has a brain of its own, and that the heart can influence our understanding of time and memory. As these and other haiku show, this is something poets have long understood.  

 

Beverly Acuff Momoi (USA)

 

 

 

 

What a great question, especially with the popular monoku. Many of these I enjoy, but I think others are off the wall and require the intellect to solve the puzzle. I strongly believe in the intuitive aspect of haiku, not found in the intellect, but the heart. 

Carole MacRury (USA)

 

  

unearthing 

the soul 

with one look

 

Marjorie Bruhmuller (Canada)

 

 

 

The poet listens to the voice of the heart. There is the intelligence quotient of the heart when we write haiku that involves our senses. The mind processes an experience through the senses, and haiku poets use their heart in interpreting the experience. For example, when I see passing clouds, I sometimes equate the clouds with a sad experience I’ve had. I relive the experience and write about it in the present tense. There is the interplay of heart and mind, and therefore, “the intelligence of the heart.” 

 

Lakshmi Iyer (India)

 

 

 

The heart is the hearth of feelings, a mood metronome.  This is its “intelligence,” signaling our reaction to stimuli such as the deeper emotions evoked by good haiku.

 

Bryan D. Cook (Canada)

 

 

 

A peaceful, joyous understanding of the simplicity of truth as reflected in nature. 

Brendan Hewitt (Canada)

 

 

  

“Intelligence of the heart” might mean that the poem appeals to our emotions, senses, and intellect all at once. 

 

Dave Russo (USA)

 

 

The Japanese word “kokoro” combines mind, body, and spirit. It brings together intellectual responses, emotional reactions, and spiritual states. 

 

Intelligence, as it is usually defined, refers to a mental quality that consists of the abilities to learn from experience, to adapt to new situations, to understand and handle abstract concepts, and to use knowledge to navigate the environment. To this, the notion of kokoro adds the awareness, understanding, and intuition of the body as a whole, where feelings are not separated from mind.

 

The heart is body-mind, the human animal, our place in nature, not separate from it, but part of it.  I believe Robert Spiess had these ideas in mind when he wrote his speculation.

 

 

Robert Witmer (Japan)

 

 

 

“The intelligence of the heart” is passion tempered by reason and experience. 

John J. Dunphy (USA)

 

 

 

Perhaps Robert was referring to the relationship between cognitive and emotional intelligence. I think writing and reading short-form poetry fosters a deep mind-body connection. Much like the single brushstroke of an incomplete ensō, the writer leaves an opening for the reader to enter. Short poems, in particular, must not only be intelligently crafted, but they must also strike an emotional chord in the reader’s heart.

 

Debbie Strange (Canada)

 

 

 

 

Like an arrow, a poem flies and hits the target. Right into the middle, straight into my heart. Pieces of an unsolvable puzzle fall into place. A sudden insight happens, revealing a slice of universal truth. Glimpses of enlightenment. This is it: the intelligence of the heart.

 

Deborah Karl-Brandt (Germany)

 

 

The power derived from typically combining two images in a haiku, relies on the writer and the reader to first use the intelligence of the mind to connect the two, and then the intelligence of the heart to extract from this connection a deeper meaning. This illumination of something deeper is where, I feel, the best haiku draw their strength. 

 

Valorie Broadhurst Woerdehoff (USA)

 

 

 

a rose with

a few fallen petals 

in a wine bottle vase

 

Michael Ketchek (USA)

 

 

Yes, the heart has a brain too! It has an understated intelligence and a memory of its own. It can be activated through self-initiated practice. Nurturing emotions such as appreciation, awareness, caring, gratitude, and compassion contribute to fulfilling the complex heart-brain connection. By blending mind and emotions, more and more, we can sense the heart is guiding us.

 

I love my husband’s philosophy on this: he says if he ever has a conflict between his head and heart, he always follows what his heart tells him to do.

Marilyn Appl Walker (USA)

 

 

My response is this quote:

 

“When the heart speaks, take good notes.”

 

I think its source is unclear, so “Anonymous” might be best.

 

 

(Editor’s note: In 2000, Author Susan Borkin wrote the book, “When Your Heart Speaks, Take Good Notes: The Healing Power of Writing.”)

 

Jeannie Martin (USA)

 

 

 

Initially, a haiku may not tug at our emotions until it reveals itself layer upon layer. This may take many readings of it. We can discern the truth/reality in haiku after our mind grasps what our emotional self, that is, our heart, is guiding us to.

 

Mike Montreuil (Canada)

 

 

 

 

I think “the intelligence of the heart,” when considering haiku, means that a haiku can pluck one’s heartstrings and evoke feelings within the reader and/or listener. It is a pertinent concept that lends more depth to the haiku experience from writer or poet, to reader or listener.

 

 

Lenard D. Moore (USA)

 

 

I practice meditation. I read publications on the effects of meditation which allow us to re-establish our roots (like a tree with its roots in the earth). I understand that it is important to establish the vertical axis brain-heart, to have access to my intuition, and to be in a state of well-being.

 

In meditation, the network neurons of the heart provide a direct line of communication to the brain. 

 

Heart intelligence is the flow of higher awareness and intuition I may experience when my emotions and mind are brought into synchronistic alignment. The heart receives intuitive information before the brain. 

 

Tuy-Nga Brignol (France)

 

  

Deep meditation on our oneness with nature and the universe. 

 

Paul Beech (Wales)

 

The awe I feel on a clear September night, sky studded with a billion stars and a full harvest moon.

Maureen Weldon (Wales)

 

 

Intelligence of the heart involves aspects such as empathy, that is, becoming one with other life forms. In general, it involves a communion with nature, and seeing beauty and detail in ordinary things. Haiku poets have an acute awareness of their surroundings through all their senses, and an acuity for seasonal changes. 

 

 

Mary L. Leopkey (Canada)

 

 

 

Copyright 2023 by Charlotte Digregorio.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Daily Haiku: March 18, 2023

hot gust of wind  

carpenter nailing sunset  

into the plywood

by Lenard D. Moore (USA) 

First Prize

Mainichi Daily News, 1992

These Are the Books for You: Poets and Teachers!

Haiku and Senryu: A Simple Guide for All and Ripples of Air: Poems of Healing have launched the careers of thousands of poets, and aided teachers.

I offer free shipping for these two titles.  (This offer is for USA Customers Only). Canadian customers, please contact me about your special offer. Each book retails for $19.95 (U.S. dollars).  All may reach me at: c-books@hotmail.com for ordering information & questions.

Your alternative. domestically and internationally, is to order these books from my Winnetka, IL ebay distributor:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/143640259235?epid=10038508152&hash=item2171a06aa3:g:gBMAAOSwmMBe8~LU&amdata=enc%3AAQAHAAAA0CSWOPM4DQvobIX1jfPpr3IYz8sVY8GrRr7tKR6Vf4yjBF6%2BGjppQ83er6TYRmCumukhUEw5MVF12vK8A1lsiIFmvyzI7KSCzQPd7GW%2FHQV3Hv%2B25SxtskHVsfds5P%2B3Espy3pUTDQ0gFlKhUwvsEVtnKguKv4bDH%2B3k0CC7rRGaq4x71ovotKcpNjDkHZeEl%2F09KYTEzRtQ63ThLIb7Pim9g59b2UpubmVFTujomalQPZXX8E%2BUe994kX9%2BxL7zyZH4%2FiXi6BpqonjQiOlILWQ%3D%7Ctkp%3ABk9SR5TYzMHdYQ

If you write haiku and senryu, you’re most likely serious about getting them published and improving your skills. You need to write the best poems you’re capable of. And, if you’d like to teach haiku and senryu at any level, to adults and students alike, you’ll need guidance. Having the right tools are essential.

 

Below are some of the best reviews of Haiku and Senryu: A Simple Guide for All.  And beneath these reviews, you’ll find information/reviews about my latest poetry book, Ripples of Air: Poems of Healing that will put you on the successful path to getting many poetic forms published, including the Japanese forms.

 

 

Thanks to all of you who’ve taken the time to read all seven of my books and to comment through the years. It’s much appreciated. And thank you for reading this blog which continues to gain in popularity worldwide.

Keep writing with resolve to get more published. Most of all, don’t hide in the shadows with your work!

Best Wishes,

Charlotte Digregorio

Note: Charlotte Digregorio is a retired Writing and Foreign Language Professor, winner of 75 poetry awards, and a four-time nominee for Pushcart Prizes. She has more than 1,000 poems in print and writes/publishes 16 poetic forms. Digregorio has organized poetry conferences throughout the country, and speaks and gives workshops at national conferences. Her popular solo exhibits of healing poetry/art are featured at libraries, corporate buildings, hospitals, galleries, and park districts, among other venues.

 

  

Haiku and Senryu: A Simple Guide for All (232 pages) 

This is the book that has launched thousands of haiku/senryu poets and teachers. It teaches the nuts and bolts of writing/publishing haiku/senryu, and the methods of teaching them.

 

 

 

An altogether brilliant work that must be read by anyone with so much as a passing interest in haiku. Charlotte Digregorio has penned a masterpiece! She has written the definitive guide to one of poetry’s most fascinating genres. This work belongs on the bookshelf of any poet who is serious about writing the kind of haiku that editors want to publish.

 

 

-–John J. Dunphy, Author and Poet, Touching Each Tree

 

 

 

This book is overall the best one out there on the subject. The amount of information is extraordinary and exceeds that found in any other book. In particular, the commentaries on selected poems are very good, intelligent, and sensitive, and really place keys into the hands of readers for unlocking the mysteries and joys of haiku literature–from its roots in Japan to its present robust evolution in English and other languages.

 

-–Michael McClintock, Award-Winning Author/Editor of Haiku & Tanka Books

Former President of The Tanka Society of America

If a book about haiku inspires the reader to create haiku, then Charlotte Digregorio’s haiku and senryu guide has done its job bountifully. Digregorio calls this “A Simple Guide for All” and she isn’t kidding. Her basic instruction simplifies the process of writing haiku without sacrificing the beauty and the pleasure that are essential. The examples of well-known haikuists shimmer with perfection! If you are interested in pursuing this lovely, subtle art form, THIS is the guide you need. Fantastic guide! I can’t believe how much I learned.

 

-–Robin Stratton, Editor, Boston Literary Magazine

 

 

Haiku and Senryu: A Simple Guide for All is exactly what it says it is: a way into the reading, writing and publishing of the world’s favorite genre. Premised on the idea that one doesn’t need to be a professional poet to enjoy it, Haiku and Senryu will inform you on why poets and non-poets alike love the genre; how to read them for maximum enjoyment; where they came from; how to organize them; and how to get them into print and other people’s heads. Whether a newbie or a seasoned veteran, you’re sure to come away with a deeper appreciation of the genre. And it’s also a considerable anthology of some of the best English-language haiku to be found.

–The Haiku Foundation

 

 

 

A strong overview of haiku. A wealth of material on how to introduce and teach haiku to children, college students, and interested adults. For busy teachers, the material will make it easier to provide guidance to their students. Any teacher would be thrilled for the helpful guidance, examples, and tools for presenting the form to the next generation. The pain and work involved in creating one’s own lesson plans is gone with the author’s well-honed presentations.

 

The bibliography also contains a wealth of material. Buy a copy for teachers, students, or interested poets and just tell them to read it. This volume will not steer them wrong, and gives any reader something with meat to hang their hat on while they discover or further explore haiku. It will remain on my shelf.

 

–Mike Rehling, Book Reviewer, United Haiku and Tanka Society

 

Marvelous book! Marvelous insight. I truly enjoyed this book, being wonderfully surprised by the new information I didn’t know. The chapter on teaching haiku was especially great, since I’ve taught it, but by a different method. And, Charlotte Digregorio’s haiku often evoke a chuckle of wry recognition or stop you dead in your tracks from awe. She seems well acquainted with the quotidian’s variety of her days, from homeless folk, to nature’s evocation and to loss and sorrow.

 

-–Donna Bauerly, Professor Emeritus, Loras College

An energetic and comprehensive guide by a prolific writer and educator with insightful perspectives and a generous sampling of published haiku and senryu. This practical guide is delivered in a relaxed, conversational tone so that the lessons and examples are informative and easily accessible. Extensive appendices and bibliography.

 

–Frogpond, Journal of the Haiku Society of America

This book will hook the beginning reader and leave them wanting more. The book demystifies the genre. It offers haiku that are accessible and doable. The “Getting Published” section offers some good tips on submitting to and building a relationship with editors. The large reference section with bibliography of educational books, anthologies, collections, journals, and websites will be of great value to beginning readers.

 

–Paul Miller, Editor of Modern Haiku

 

 

I honor the work Charlotte Digregorio has done on behalf of English-language haiku in Haiku and Senryu: A Simple Guide for All. She has a gift for writing clearly, concentrating on what matters beyond passing controversy. As for her own fresh and gritty poems, Digregorio has the courage to face the truth about love, loss, aging, birth/death and the upside down nature of life—the full catastrophe. Expect to be challenged and invigorated.

 

–Dr. Robert Epstein, Psychologist

Author, Checkout Time is Noon: Death Awareness Haiku

 

 

A couple of the many sterling qualities of Charlotte Digregorio’s haiku include perceptive observance of natural phenomena and penetrating insights into human nature, frequently with a delightful, wry humor in the latter category, along with deep compassion in others.

 

–Robert Spiess, Former Editor of Modern Haiku

 

  

Anyone can benefit from this book’s simple, clear advice. Digregorio offers time-tested, yet fresh and flexible pedagogy–actual lesson plans for those who wish to teach haiku. Intermediate and advanced practitioners will benefit from reminders of simple concepts long forgotten or never learned. We are given new ways to think about the poetry we read.

 

–Speed Bump Journal

 

 

 

Offers excellent advice on haiku writing. It is a great book and has helped many of us in our haiku journey, and doubtless will for many years to come.

 

–Andy McLellan, UK Poet and Author, birth/stones: Selected Haiku and Haibun

 

  

BOOK  #2 – Ripples of Air: Poems of Healing (236 pages)

 

 

Everyone needs healing. Writing poems about your hardships and struggles often helps to alleviate life’s pain and hurts.

“Ripples of Air: Poems of Healing,” a reference book, will inspire you to put your thoughts on paper and write expressive long and short poetry including  14 forms: poems such as cinquain, etheree, acrostic, sonnet, free verse, limerick, and the Japanese forms of tanka, haibun, haiku and senryu sequences, among others.

Below are some of the best reviews of “Ripples of Air: Poems of Healing.” (236 pages) 

 

Benjamin Franklin Awards (2021): Independent Book Publishers Association

 

 Comments from Judge #1:

 

Life in all its aspects flows through Charlotte Digregorio’s buoyant poetry collection. For its healing and inspirational qualities, this is a book to keep and reread frequently. It inspires enhanced living and writing. Excellent!

 Comments from Judge #2

 

 

This book is a very easy and pleasurable read.  I read every poem with delight in about six days. (236 pages). There are lines in the poetry that if they were fireworks would light up the night sky. This book is that good. The introduction is a marvelous bit of writing, explaining the author’s view on poetry, and about the title’s meaning. All through the book, when each new section is about to unfold, there is a prose explanation of what one is about to encounter. These preludes to the sections are one of the best features of the book.

Ripples of Air: Poems of Healing comes in a year when healing is in even greater demand than usual. In this book, we not only get a well-written poetry collection that promotes healing, but a how-to guide for writing poetry that aids healing. As I read it, I often paused to implement Digregorio’s suggestions, jotting down poems of my own, and filled several pages. The author is particularly well known as an authority on the Japanese forms of haiku and senryu, and many of the poems in this book follow them. Others are in free verse and a dozen other forms. The collection is structured into sections containing poems about various subjects you can consider writing about. Each section is introduced by a page of prose that includes the author’s sage comments on why the subject is relevant and how the poems influence healing. The poems and writing advice are clear, accessible, and beautifully lyrical. Her point is: look, you can do this.  I highly recommend this book.

–Richard Allen Taylor, Author of Armed and Luminous

   Book Reviewer,  The Main Street Rag

 

 

I highly, highly recommend this book! I read a lot of how-to-write poetry books, but this is unique because it shows would-be poets like me the “why” of writing poems. For those who want to write the best poetry we are capable of, this collection encourages us to look for and create beauty, strength, and healing. Many times during the reading of this book, I put it down and wrote a few lines of my own. I read several of Digregorio’s poems out loud, luxuriating in the evocative language and the emotional effect it had on me. Her haiku is particularly inspiring and she is a master at it.  I love this book. It’s not just a collection of poems, but thoughtful essays about how poetry can heal. There are a lot of lines I would like to quote (or pretend I came up with).  I love the imagery.

–Robin Stratton, Editor, Boston Literary Magazine

 

 

This book is different from any poetry book I have reviewed before. We need this book! Who among us has not needed healing? Who among us has not spent time in the cave of despair? Who among us has not needed an outlet for anger or loss? This is great poetry, mature craftsmanship, written in an accessible style for all to savor. It’s easy to apply these poems to daily life. A professional observer, Digregorio sees and feels everything more deeply. She reveals her sensitivity to the human condition. The volume contains something for everyone: from compact oriental forms, to superbly-crafted sonnets, to the little known etheree, to fun forms such as acrostics and limericks, free verse and more.

Exhaustive Appendices: More than a collection of poetry, the author offers practical, hands-on support for beginning and experienced writers.  As poets, we also need to promote and sell our poetry, our books, and the author helps get us off the sidelines and into the promotional game. Treasures to be unearthed include multiple lists of publications that publish poetry; ideas for general print/broadcast media that feature poets; and ideas on types of associations, organizations, and businesses that promote poets through awards, interviews, readings, speaking venues, workshops engagements, and exhibitions of their work. This book has given me a real education.

–Michael Escoubas, Editor, Quill and Parchment

 

   

Digregorio’s poetry is healing, gets you through tough times, and saves lives. This book is one answer to the Coronavirus. In spending time reading it, we find an encouraging and peaceful way to live. Nuanced by childhood memories of oceans and jagged monoliths, of black bear and elk, she shares through reflection and meditation, poems with a spaciousness that speak of acceptance and gratitude for what is. She is like the sculptor in one of her poems, “creating equilibrium and harmony.” She reaches out and invites the reader to join her in solitude, share thoughts, and observations. Ultimately, there is a sense of community, of knowing we aren’t alone. There’s an exuberance of life here that cannot help but touch you. It is a book you can go back to time and time again.

–Mary Jo Balistreri, Poet and Author, Still

 

  

Fascinating tome–the perfect fit for this time in history. Soothing and peaceful. The author balances different poetic forms that contribute to a melodic, musical timbre. I marked many pages as my favorite poems–far too many to list here. Gorgeous words describing the natural world and her insightful memories in the “Nostalgia” section. Her poems wend their way through the maze of life events and experiences, healing in their warm, lyrical beauty.

–The Rockford Review, Sally Hewitt, Editor

 

 

The bumper sticker on my car reads: “Nature: Cheaper than Therapy.” As an adjunct to nature’s treatment plan, I would prescribe Charlotte Digregorio’s  Ripples of Air: Poems of Healing. Her imagistic poems wind through diverse relational and emotional terrain, and never lose touch with the natural healing qualities of acceptance, wonder, gratitude, and harmony.

–Mike Stinson, Psychotherapist, Poet & Author, extra innings

 

 

What a treasure and a wonder from a mightily accomplished author. I always turn to this book with anticipation and peace in my heart, looking forward to the author’s life insights. A ponderous book. I am giving it the daily reading that the inspiring poems call out for, a page or two a day with meditative thought for the author’s many layered gifts of creativity. I love the titles of the multi-themed chapters. I am delving into this clear pond of healing, the book’s healing messages.

–Donna Bauerly, Professor Emeritus, Loras College

 

 

An affecting collection. Charlotte Digregorio finds lyricism in solitude, finds reason to celebrate and transform into art the trifles in our gritty lives. These are poems of great skill, poems with a generous heart by a writer who cherishes the luminous particulars of every moment.

–Marsh Muirhead, Poet and Author of last night of the carnival

 

 

Award-winning poet Charlotte Digregorio offers readers an array of poems that delve deeply into the external, her Midwest surroundings, and the internal, the nature of her creativity. Digregorio’s delectable collection is one to be savored again and again.

–Roberta Beary, Poet and Author of The Unworn Necklace

 

 

The poems of Charlotte Digregorio possess a clarity of vision one seldom finds in contemporary verse. The images she creates are vibrant and alive. We Baby Boomers identify with her all too well.

–John J. Dunphy, Poet and Author of Touching Each Tree

 

  

We are blessed with this work! This is a comforting, much appreciated companion in these difficult times. The book responds to so many of the themes and issues that are central to my life experience. It sustains, and I am thankful.  I hope this book makes its way to many people in these sad times. It provides shade from the glare of events.

–David Eyre, Educator and Author, the nothing that is

 

 

Charlotte Digregorio has the all-too-uncommon ability to put the reader in the poet’s place. One does not read, so much as experience her poems. Closing my eyes, many of these poems could have been memories from my own past. These very personal poems become personal to the reader. The poet uses words as her brush, and all senses are stimulated.

–Ignatius Fay, Poet and Co-Author of Breccia

 

 

This is a self-help book that is the pathway to finding peace. The author’s healing poems speak to us and are especially timely during the Covid crisis.

–Winnetka-Kenilworth Living magazine (Illinois)

 

 

This elegantly designed book offers readers an eclectic mix of poetry styles to suit any and every mood. Here, you may find your senses soothed, or stimulated by the natural world. There, you might find yourself immersed in memories, or daydreams about the future. This writer has walked in our shoes, and her words entice us to take the first steps along the poetic path to healing.

–Debbie Strange, Canadian Poet and Author of The Language of Loss

 

 

Charlotte Digregorio is a much-published and much-honored poet. The approaches to writing she shares in this collection prove useful for those who seek inspiration and for those who give writing workshops.

–Maxianne Berger, Book Review Coordinator, Haiku Canada Review

 

 

  

 

Daily Haiku: March 17, 2023

garden harvest

she emerges with a bouquet

of rhubarb

 

 

 

by Lillian Nakamura Maguire (Canada)

Haiku Canada Review, Vol. 16, No. 2, October 2022

 

Daily Haiku: March 16, 2023

midnight jazz . . .

the soft-brush percussion

of rain

by Dave Read (Canada)

Haiku Canada Review, Vol. 16, No. 2, October 2022

Daily Haiku: March 15, 2023

close of the year
a gray road
lit by stars

by Mike Stinson (USA)

Mann Library’s Daily Haiku, Sept. 22, 2020

Daily Haiku: March 14, 2023

the explanation

rambles on and on

his adam’s apple

by Sharon Rhutasel-Jones (USA)

Hedgerow, #137, 2021

Daily Haiku: March 13, 2023

maid-of-honor dress

the hem

beginning to unravel

by Kelly Sargent (USA)

Modern Haiku, Vol. 53.1, Winter/Spring 2022

Daily Haiku Special: March 12, 2023, Debbie Strange

heated debate

even the fence

is barbed

1st Prize

Creatrix Haiku Prize, 2022

 

sakura

we learn the lesson

of resilience

Honorable Mention

Sakura Award (Canada)

Vancouver Cherry Blossom Haiku Invitational, 2022

 

and a tanka, too!

 

 

autumn arrives

in a whirl of leaves

this body

withering, too, despite

my best intentions

 

2nd Honorable Mention

San Francisco International Competition, 2022

 

                              by Debbie Strange (Canada)

Daily Haiku: March 11, 2023

snow moon

finding my stillness

among pines

by Pamela A. Babusci (USA)

Daily Haiku: March 10, 2023

after meditation

he sees the smudge

on his glasses

by Robert Epstein (USA)

Frogpond, Vol. XXIII, No. 3, 2000

Daily Haiku: March 9, 2023

hollow beat of the drum

missing

mother’s rhythm

by Lillian Nakamura Maguire (Canada)

Haiku Canada Review, Vol. 16, No. 1, February 2022

Daily Haiku: March 8, 2023

dusk:

everybody at the bus stop

looking the same way

by Michael Dudley (Canada), Author

pilgrimage, Red Moon Press, 2017

Daily Haiku: March 7, 2023

hospice book cart

bookmarks

between the pages

by Kelly Sargent (USA)   

The Heron’s Nest, Vol. XXIV, No. 4, December 2022

Daily Haiku: March 6, 2023

deep winter sky

a spoonful of stardust

in my coffee

by Edward Cody Huddleston (USA)

Frogpond, Vol. 44:2, Spring/Summer 2021

Daily Haiku: March 5, 2023

snow upon snow

chili reheats

on the stove

by Ben Gaa (USA)

Frogpond, Vol. 44:2, Spring-Summer 2021

Daily Haiku: March 4, 2023

night sky

one of those stars might be

the reset button

by Susan Antolin (USA)

Modern Haiku, Vol. 46.2, Summer 2015

                 

 

See Your Name in Print: Haiku Survey

Haiku Survey 

Charlotte Digregorio is conducting a survey for this blog. Those interested in participating may comment on Robert Spiess’s “Speculation” as follows, from his book “A Year’s Speculations on Haiku,” Modern Haiku, 1995: 

“Haiku are written best and appreciated best through the intelligence of the heart.” (June third).  

Question: How do you interpret “the intelligence of the heart”? 

To respond, email Charlotte at  c-books@hotmail.com by March 16. Include your name/country. Responses may be edited for brevity. The survey will appear March 18. 

P.S.  Who was Robert Spiess? He was the Editor of “Modern Haiku” journal from 1978 until his death in 2002.  His books are listed here:

Books by Robert Spiess

The Heron’s Legs. Platteville, Wis.: American Haiku, 1966.

The Turtle’s Ears. Madison, Wis.: Wells Printing Co., 1971.

Five Caribbean Haibun. Madison, Wis.: Wells Printing Co., 1972.

The Shape of Water. Madison, Wis.: Modern Haiku Press, 1982.

The Bold Silverfish and Tall River Junction. Madison, Wis.: Modern Haiku Press, 1986.

New and Selected Speculations on Haiku. Madison, Wis.: Modern Haiku Press, 1988.

The Cottage of Wild Plum. Madison, Wis.: Modern Haiku Press, 1991.

A Year’s Speculation on Haiku. Madison, Wis.: Modern Haiku Press, 1995.

Noddy. Madison, Wis.: Modern Haiku Press, 1997.

Noddy & the Halfwit [with Lee Gurga]. Madison, Wis.: Modern Haiku Press, 1999.

Some Sticks and Pebbles. Madison, Wis.: Modern Haiku Press, 2001.

 

Copyright 2023 by Charlotte Digregorio.

 

Daily Haiku: March 3, 2023

winter sky . . .

starlight

on her stone

by Barrie Levine (USA)

Wales Haiku Journal, Winter 2021-2022

Daily Haiku: March 2, 2023

waning crescent moon

screech owl’s call echoes

across the prairie

by Allyson Whipple (USA)

Visiting The Wind

Haiku Society of America Members’ Anthology, 2021

Daily Haiku: March 1, 2023

winter journey

a tunnel to the platform

where we part

by Roland Packer (Canada)

Haiku Canada Review, Vol. 11, No. 2, October 2017

Daily Haiku: Feb. 28, 2023

bearing down

on a borrowed pen

do not resuscitate

by Yu Chang (USA)

The Heron’s Nest, 11:2, 2009

Daily Haiku: Feb. 27, 2023

dusk crawls across the field crickets 

 

by Mary Jo Balistreri (USA)

tinywords, 2019

Daily Haiku: Feb. 26, 2023

the only work I do for a year therapy

by Susan Burch (USA), Author 

Robbed, Title IX Press, 2022 

Daily Haiku: Feb. 25, 2023

isolation

our neighbour’s

dark windows  

by Marta Chocilowska (Poland) 

Haiku of Merit  

World Haiku Review, Summer, 2021  

Daily Haiku: Feb. 24, 2023

sunrise . . .

I walk through blades of grass

frosted orange

by Shawna Braun (USA)

Haibun by Antonietta Losito

Absence

I cannot think of my friend without also thinking of the bridge he jumped off.

short day—

the shock of the axe

into the pine

by Antonietta Losito (Italy)

Contemporary Haibun Online, April 2021

 

Daily Haiku Special: Feb. 23, 2023–Howard Lee Kilby

gang members glare

in territorial imperative

the silence

by Howard Lee Kilby (USA)

Modern Haiku, Vol. XXVI, No. 3, Fall, 1995

too shy to attend

Jack Kerouac’s funeral

too many poets

by Howard Lee Kilby (USA)

Modern Haiku, Vol. XXVIII, No. 3, Fall, 1997

 

Daily Haiku: Feb. 22, 2023

child’s burial

the uneven heights

of the headstones

by Jim Kacian (USA)

Modern Haiku, Vol. XXXII, No. 3, Fall, 2001

Daily Haiku: Feb. 21, 2023

restored prairie . . .

where the grasses end

the prison’s outer fence

by Lee Gurga (USA)

Modern Haiku, Vol. XXVI, No. 3, Fall, 1995

Daily Haiku: Feb. 20, 2023

canceling

the baby shower

blood moon

 

 

 

by Edward Cody Huddleston (USA)

Modern Haiku, 53:1, Winter/Spring 2022

Daily Haiku: Feb. 19, 2023

winter rain . . . 

the hole in the garden

where the old oak stood 

by Gregory Longenecker (USA)

Modern Haiku, 44:3, 2013

News Flash!

Charlotte Digregorio, Editor of The Daily Haiku, is honored to be the Featured Poet for the World Haiku Series (16) in February, https://akitahaiku.com/category/world-haiku-series/. Many thanks to Poet Hidenori Hiruta of Japan, the editor of this acclaimed series! His dedication and contributions to haiku are simply outstanding!

Further, Charlotte recently judged the popular Limerick Contest for the Winnetka-Northfield (IL) Public Library District, and had a delightful time doing so. Thanks to everyone who entered!

P.S.

As many of you know, I love to connect people to my favorite publications. I regularly have tanka and tanka sequences published in “red lights,” an exceptional journal that’s solely devoted to publishing this lovely, short, lyrical art form.

For those of you who’d like to explore tanka, please contact its editor, Marilyn Shoemaker Hazelton, through the information in this link below:

https://www.tankasocietyofamerica.org/tsa-officers/marilyn-shoemaker-hazelton

 

Daily Haiku Special: Feb. 18, 2023 with Ed Bremson

near the end
she remembers once dancing
with Indians

Frogpond, 41:3, 2018

cherry trees in bloom . . .
petals the color of
the blue moon

Asahi Haikuist Network, April 20, 2018

All Saints’ Day
a patch of blue in the elm
chirping

leaves
how beautiful some are
dying

Autumn Moon Haiku, December 2022

by ED BREMSON (USA)

Daily Haiku: Feb. 17, 2023

autumn morning
imagining the ocean

behind the fog

by Ce Rosenow (USA)

Mann Library’s Daily Haiku, Sept. 27, 2011

Daily Haiku: Feb. 16, 2023

overcast skies
street puddles

holding yesterday’s storm

by Jay Friedenberg (USA), Author

One Rock Out of Place: A Haiku Collection, Alba Publishing, 2013

Daily Haiku: Feb. 15, 2023

moving clouds . . .

the mountain

gold with aspen leaves

by Shawna Braun (USA)

Daily Haiku: Feb. 14, 2023

wherever I am with her Paris

by Robert Epstein (USA)

Frogpond, 37.3, 2014

Daily Haiku: Feb. 13, 2023

the creek

where she was baptized

sun after rain

by Deborah P Kolodji  (USA)

tinywords, 13.1, March 29, 2013

Daily Haiku: Feb. 12, 2023

in love
bicycling
into the snowstorm

by Tom Clausen (USA)

tomclausen.wordpress.com, April 19, 2018

 

Daily Haiku: Feb. 11, 2023

getting of an age

everyone I meet

reminds me of someone

by Charles Trumbull (USA)

Cradle of American Haiku, Mineral Point, WI, July 2014

Daily Double Haiku: Feb. 10, 2023

steadily moving

to see the moon

hidden behind a branch

by Brendan Hewitt (Canada)

Haiku Canada Review, No. 1, Vol. 14, February 2020

  

falling asleep . . .

from the black sky

snow fairy appears

by Tuy-Nga Brignol (France)

 

Daily Double Haiku: Feb. 9, 2023

cock struts

through the farmyard

preceding the feast

by Jerome Berglund (USA)

DailyHaiga, May 29, 2022

 

 

 

memories 

of skating on the canal

glide us to childhood

 

by Marilyn Henighan (Canada)

 

Daily Double Haiku: Feb. 8, 2023

full moon
roof corner icicles glow
winter silver

by David Brydges (Canada)

Poetry Pea, April 19, 2021

 

frosty windows . . .

hiss of the kettle

by Joan C. Fingon (USA)

 

Daily Double Haiku: Feb. 7, 2023

six snowballs

in the freezer . . .

just in case

by Christine Wenk-Harrison (USA)
Failed Haiku, Issue 73, January 2023

 

early light –

snowflakes dance

by Mariangela Canzi (Italy)

Daily Double Haiku: Feb. 6, 2023

winter stars

the stretch

of imagination

by Tom Painting (USA)

Modern Haiku, 41:2, Summer 2010

 

  

Basho’s frog dissected in English class  

by petro c.k. (USA)
Five Fleas (Itchy Poetry), Sept. 25, 2022