hearthspeaker

art by Carl Trägårdh

art by Anna Seed

break

Thank you so much! From my general understanding of poetry journals and publications, the term haiku has been "modernized" to include poems that aren't syllable restricted because of the idea that English does not lend itself as well to that structure as Japanese does. Instead, I believe non-traditional haikus follow the three line structure and emphasis on imagery!

While reading a sample of John Philip Newell’s The Great Search, I had a profound moment of a personal truth reflected - a moment of validation for this poem I’ve had tucked against my ribs. In this sample, Newell shares with the reader his cerebrations on the work of Thomas Berry, a Catholic priest and “geologian”, as Berry describes himself. “It is not just our lungs and bodies that are damaged by particle and light pollution in the cities,” Newell says, “to not be able to see the stars is a deprivation of our inner world, a loss of wonder, and thus a diminishing of our imagination and the ability to remember our origins in the heavens and to dream our way forward into new beginnings on Earth.” I had what felt like the emotional reaction equivalent to the Leonardo DeCaprio meme. I’ve been thinking about it since and have consequently pulled this haiku out from between my ribs. Pardon me if it’s still a bit wet.

art by Felicitas Kuhn