Book of the Week: Zen Koanheads

John J. Dunphy has a special affinity with those genres that reside on the fringes of haiku, like scifaiku, but his first love has always been senryu. This collection (Second Reading Publications, 2008) shows him at his characteristic best.

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

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Haiku featured in the Book of the Week Archive are selected by Jim Kacian, and are used with permission.

the mechanic’s grin
slowly broadening
as he peers under my hood

pure improvisation
the jazz musician completes
his tax return

with bowed head
I ascend the church steps —
first bifocals

during the campaign
even his sign in my yard
leaning to the right

New Year’s Day
my champagne glass bubbling
with Alka-Seltzer

all dressed up and nowhere to go
my atheist friend
in his coffin