That sounds like a good idea to me, that title above! So, some very credentialed Persian-Zoroastrian woman, armed with a Ph.D from Harvard, some time working at the State Department, many DC connections, (and she is a core activist for international religious freedoms and women rights) and I, decided to do this book, and hopeful series. 

We will each have an introduction; mine will be pretty much as you can see below. Thought this would be a nice way to introduce the book, and maybe get a good publisher on board. Also, my writing partner on this is fresh from winning a haiku contest, and her entries in that will be shown, along with some of her fine art.

A Haiku Jumped Over The Moon & Meatloaf

Introduction by Daniel Ladinsky

What is the great value of a haiku being able to jump over the moon? Plenty! Maybe even tremendous! Maybe even life-changing enough to effect your next ten lives or more, for the betterment of all forms & creatures in the universe???

Cause it could be like Buddha kicking your fanny over a wall or two (or some grudges) that had ya all hemmed in. And while you are sailing over any cage of not loving and not really knowing, of not weeping at times because of the wonder & beauty of existence and empathy for others; Yoda might come by midair on a butterfly wing and high-five you; moreover say: "Sit with me for a while, there is so much I can tell you.” 

Yeah, there is so much a haiku can tell us. And that is why we are writing this book! Will give you an example in a minute. But first:

I have been writing free-style haiku for about 20 years now, and must have over 5,000 of them. This will be the first haiku book I will be officially & publicly involved with.

There are two haiku books that I have found most encouraging for my own haiku efforts. They are, foremost: Haiku Mind, by the late Patricia Donegan. She was remarkably credentialed and respected in the world of haiku and meditation. And, I have only met her via this book, just mentioned. 

The other haiku book I have found very educational & helpful is an anthology by Faubion Bowers, titled: The Classic Tradition of Haiku. It is available in one of the great Dover editions for a very fair price.

Donegan's haiku book is also an anthology spanning several centuries, and features 108 haiku from writers around the world; and she then annotates those. 

In Haiku Mind, (on page 43) she has one by Jack Kerouac that goes, just as it is printed in that book:

                            The taste

                                 of rain

                                 Why kneel?

Take a guess at what that means, as can be expounded on by Donegan. I did, and got pretty close, and will in this book. That is: this book will often feature a haiku on the left side of the spread, and then on the right with a drawing by my writing partner, who for now wants to remain incognito (but will rise like a beautiful full moon at some point), or a short annotation by her or I. 

And one can see in Kerouac's haiku a complete disregard for the classic 5-7-5 approach to haiku, though Donegan and Bowers both very fully support that also— the classic 5-7-5. 

There is, to me, a wonderful little barroom story of someone asking Jack Kerouac why he most often wrote with such a free-style for haiku, and will tell that later in this book, if my agent (and/or an editor) lets that ride.

I have, for decades now, been working with and publishing the poetry of Hafiz & Rumi. In this book I will offer some of what I could call: Rumi & Hafiz go haiku. Also, I have been deep into the study of Buddha and Lao Tzu at times, and have several different versions of what books are most respected and attributed to them. The classic Dhammapadas (the Buddhist bible as it were) are most always presented as 423 short verses of often 2, 3 & 4 lines; and I once had the idea of doing two books, titled: The Haiku of Buddha and, The Haiku of Lao Tzu. I will offer some of those to help us with a moment or two of satori— aka getting a high-five from Yoda midair on a butterfly wing, and then letting you ride shotgun with him for a while... and sprinkling angel dust on this world, and on your own heart tooooo!

Ahhh, a good poem can sprinkle angel dust on you, and pour some Jack Daniels down your throat, and help you smile, laugh, dance! Hey, "Jump over the moon," break the shackle long enough to find— a deep thanks. And begin to applaud what you have yet to see, but was always, always right there! 

Ahhh, a good poem has meatloaf in it, aka: Manna. And we need all the vitamin M we can get for the divine in our souls to more enter our eyes, sounds & movements, and to give more to others, even in silence, wherever we are. 

Ahhh, the synergy in some words can be so needed by us soft animals, to help us curl up more with the earth & sky, and the miracle of our lives.