Loafing Alertly

Post date: Aug 31, 2017 7:28:56 PM

New on the Further Reading page is “Loafing Alertly: Observation and Haiku,” an excellent essay by Paul O. Williams. It first appeared in Frogpond in 1981, and my press reprinted it in Paul’s book of haiku essays, The Nick of Time, in 2001. As Lee Gurga and I wrote in the book’s introduction, in concurring with the essay, “sheer delight in new perceptions tends to create images, not haiku,” and “haiku is more often found in the familiar than in the exotic, and . . . individual moments, unless they are tied to the rhythms of nature, often fail to yield haiku.” This is a thoughtful and challenging essay well worth reading by all haiku poets, whether neophytes or well seasoned.