Love is the most complicated and yet the simplest of emotions. Haiku poetry, with its clarity and poignancy, is able to wonderfully capture the different moods of this intensely human condition. This anthology features the work of poets - both ancient and modern - from around the world.
EXTRACT
watched her approach
and as we finally pass
our umbrellas touch
(SEAN O'CONNOR)
WHAT I THOUGHTI am hesitant to review Haiku for Lovers. One the one hand the collection contains some lovely haikus. On the other hand, many of the poems (more than half) cannot really be called Haiku. A Haiku has a set form of syllable counts per line and contain three lines. Most of the poems in this collection clearly do not follow the strict syllable count of the Haiku and many only have two lines. I'm all for experimenting with poetry, alternating traditional forms and creating new ones. However, I feel a collection with the word Haiku in the title should contain actual Haiku's. Call me pedantic. The most enjoyable, powerful Haiku's are the ones that use the traditional forms. The others were okay but quite weak. A great Haiku can convey more emotion and depth than a 100 line poem. Many of the Haikus in this collection fall a little short. Unfortunately, very short poems don't mean they are Haikus. Haiku for Lovers is a beautiful collection. The pages are on very thick paper. Each page is beautifully illustrated. The collection looks and feels gorgeous but lacks real substance I expect from Haiku or contemporary poetry.