Book-of-the-Week

Book of the Week: Bug Haiku

hackett_bughaikucover

James W. Hackett was a serious practitioner and theoretician of the English-language haiku, but he believed it was best received with a child-like mind. Here is an actual children’s book on a favorite topic from 1968 (Japan Publications).

You can read the entire book in the THF Digital Library.

Do you have a chapbook published 2009 or earlier you would like featured as a Book of the Week? Contact us for details.

Haiku featured in the Book of the Week Archive are selected by Jim Kacian, following a concept first explored by Tom Clausen, and are used with permission.





This garter snake
   goes in and out of the grass
      all at the same time!


Snail, your confusion
   has covered the pavement with
      an exquisite design.



Puppy lies wag-end up,
   barking at the bumblebee
      too busy to play.


The fleeing sandpipers
   turn about suddenly
      and chase back the sea!



Fanning butterfly,
   is the suspense you create
      part of your design?


This flat skipping-stone,
   kept for its color, appears
      drab without the stream . . .

This Post Has 4 Comments

  1. This is one of my favorite books in the bookcase in my home office.

  2. Hard to resist the alluring qualities of our tiniest visible neighbors. Just ask Issa. Love this book – found it at a used bookstore (which is now closed). Thanks James Hackett and thanks Haiku Foundation for sharing this with others.

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