Holiday Haiku

 
In November of 2007, at the invitation of Sue Ellen White, I selected a number of my winter, Christmas, and childhood-related haiku for a glass Christmas ornament. Sue Ellen created both the accompanying booklet and the Christmas ornament, with lines of my haiku curled inside on paper of different colours. Copies were sold in November and December of 2007 on Whidbey Island, Washington, as a fundraiser for the 2008 Burning Word poetry festival on Whidbey Island. I’m grateful to Sue Ellen White for her creativity. See also Christmasku.
 

                                                                                                                                fresh snow on the mat—
                                                                                                                                the shape of welcome
                                                                                                                                still visible

first star—
a seashell held
to my baby’s ear

children’s
book
sh
elves

lingering handshake—
the pulse
in our fingers

                                                                                                                                home for Christmas:
                                                                                                                                my childhood desk drawer
                                                                                                                                empty