The Japanese word haiku is composed of two characters: HAI (俳), meaning “light or comical,” and KU (句), meaning “verse.” Thus, haiku means literally “humorous verse.” But humor of what kind exactly? The more examples we find of haiku humor, the more puzzling it...
Jane Hirshfield's poem "Let Them Not Say" has become something of an anthem in the environmental movement. For Earth day 2021, the Scottish eco-activist composer Chris Hutchings used it in making this beautiful and harrowing music video.Jane Hirshfield’s nine poetry...
In the old days, like fifteen years ago, learning the whereabouts of rare birds was a different business than it is today. You’d hear about a rare bird through word of mouth, or you’d call a phone number that — through a recorded message — would give an update on the...
"Wanting Memories", a song composed by Ysaye Barnwell, has touched millions around the world with its simple, profound beauty. Raise Your Voice Labs organized and produced this music video of "Wanting Memories" to pay tribute to Ysaye Barnwell on her 75th Birthday,...
At 5pm almost every day early in the pandemic my husband and I would meet for the Murmur Massage. It took place in bed. But not for sex. We were there for that unguarded talking that usually only happens late at night. Our big bed, almost a square, took up most of the...
I have a confession to make that may not go down well in official haiku circles, but I can’t hold it in any longer. It has been fifty years since I first read Bashō’s little poem about the frog jumping into the old pond with a plop!—and I still don’t get it. Not that...
Every art form has its basics—those fundamental principles, forms, or techniques that must be set in place before you can learn the finer points of the craft. Watch children in any beginning ballet class, and you’ll see them learning the same five positions. Art...
Sapphire is the author of two bestselling novels, Push and The Kid. Push was made into the major motion film Precious, which received the Academy Award for Best Screenplay and Best Supporting Actress. Sapphire’s work has been translated into thirteen languages and has...
Ghosts There are thirteen windows in this room.I see the tops of trees and sky, my parentsrun thru my mind; my fatherscurrying like a mouse. My mother is sitting. Why have I comehere, and what do their ghostswant with me. I know I’m not writing poetry but trying to...
In the early eighties I was part of a production called Crooked Eclipses: A Theatrical Meditation on Shakespeare’s Sonnets, put on by the Boston Theatre Group. We didn’t just recite the sonnets; we learned dozens of them by heart and moved, sang, wept, and wrestled...
