The Signature Haiku Anthology: Including Senryu and Tanka

Every committed poet has a haiku, senryu, or tanka that he or she personally cherishes as his or her best––perhaps, favorite––poem. It may be the poem that the poet wants to be remembered by. This is what is rightly called a signature poem. In these pages you will find signature haiku, senryu and tanka by dozens of English-language poets from around the world. Some may be instantly recognizable as classics while others will quietly stir the reader’s imagination for their depth, passion, incisiveness, poignancy, subtlety or humor––to name but a few of the qualities associated with signature poetry. Collectively, these wide-ranging, distinctive and enduring haiku, senryu and tanka represent the very best of what the brief form of Japanese poetry, ever-evolving in English, has to offer. They are an impenetrable ballast of truth and innocence against the dark forces at large in the world today.in the summer sky /a cloud with its mouth open / eats a smaller cloud ~ Billy Collins*foghorns – /we lower a kayak /into the sound~ Christopher Herold*a quiet spell /herbs burning on the hearth /rosemary /sage and berry - a prayer /for our suffering earth~ Joy McCall*Don’t try to figure me out— /everything I write is fiction /all of it true~ Alexis Rotella Read more