I like this book a lot, by Patricia Donegan, titled: haiku mind. (Yeah, the title is not in caps.) I have mentioned it before in my blog entries. And for any who ever write poetry, or songs, or especially would like to write some haiku, this is the book I most endorse. You could learn a lot about the book from reading what Amazon offers on its page there. 

Donegan was remarkably credentialed in the realm of haiku and meditation. I wrote a review for this book that is often featured around the world, and is usually the top review there.

On page 43 in that book, she features one of my favorite haiku by Jack Kerouac, punctuated as Kerouac did. Punctuation is not common in haiku, as it is just six words (as Kerouac used in this poem). 

Kerouac, to me, made a great contribution to haiku in many ways. One being, helping us get out of the 5-7-5 cage; but Donegan can also (and I feel very rightly) endorse the classic 17 syllable approach. Though Patricia is also a wonderful advocate of the free-style haiku I most always write (and will offer two I wrote yesterday). (And then two more this morning.) But here is that one famous Kerouac haiku:

The taste

of rain

— Why kneel?

— Jack Kerouac

What does that mean to you? Try a couple guesses. 

Haiku, in a way, can be a kind of puzzle that can be fun to solve, or sure, a koan of a sort. A haiku can help you jump over the moon for a second, aka: a momentary satori can be in the real feeling of it, the real seeing into it, the understanding it, and letting a wing there lift & kiss you.

I had never seen an explanation of the above haiku by Kerouac until this morning, until I read all Donegan said about it on page 43 & 44. Although I have had the book, haiku mind, for many years now, and bought and given away many copies, I have probably only read less than 20 pages in it, as I really don't read. 

Guess I have only read some four books cover to cover in 40 years. But felt I so recognized the great worth of this book, and thus have so often promoted it, like now. 

So this morning, I asked myself more deeply what did this haiku mean to me, and I then pictured in my mind trying to tell a younger person what it meant. And seems I got pretty close; but Donegan went into what I thought was a good meaning—and even better (and expounded) as can be seen, as said, on pages 43 & 44 in her book. And do hope you buy it. You would be doing yourself a favor, and it only cost 12 bucks, last seen.

And here are a couple I wrote yesterday:

watching that sunset

   buddha steps

     on my toes

(aka: beauty and I, my idea of God and I, dance for a moment)

with the sun touching

    the earth's cheek like that

        she smiles

We live to smile, all creatures need that in some ways. Our kindness and love— hey love for each other can be such a sun. Let it rise in you. 

O, one more right now. To honor my agent's new birdbath, and the so-many beautiful feathers that have started to party there, as we should: 

the whole sky

  a birdbath for

     our wings

…

Just woke from an early nap, after being up last night for a couple hours plowing — that is: attending to emails and writing a good draft of all here. And when looking outside there were some bees gathered on some vines near, on clusters of small while flowers. And these thoughts came to mind, to close this:

who isn't

  a bee everyday

    looking for nectar

And, how did that Zen master ever get midair on a butterfly wing and start high-fiving everyone? He gathered the right honey-wisdom & love! 

I bet Hafiz and Rumi could help! And Meher Baba! And haiku mind tooo!