I was first exposed to haiku as a child in elementary school. Perhaps you were too? I wrote a poem about a chestnut ... that's all I remember. Over the years, now and then, I'd try my hand at writing haiku, but when I visited Japan at cherry blossom season--studying Japanese and calligraphy--I was drawn into living, breathing haiku. Upon returning to the states I sought a teacher, and I found a wonderful workshop at Upaya Zen Center , in Santa Fe, taught by Natalie Goldberg and haiku master, Clark Strand . (Clark doesn't call himself a master, but I believe he is one.) I began to study haiku in earnest, studying with Clark, reading haiku masters like BashÅ and many others, composing haiku in a Ku-Kai group. And, of course, writing hundreds of haiku ... mostly bad and a few good. Haiku is a journey, a way of viewing the world, noticing the juxtaposition of the human condition and nature. Most poems contain a season word, kigo , and (although there's debate, due to E
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