Poet Profile

Max Verhart

Max Verhart was born in Heerlen, Netherlands and resided in ‘s-Hertogenbosch, Netherlands. He became interested in haiku in 1980. He was President of the Haiku Circle Netherlands (1999 – 2003); European director of the World Haiku Association (2001 – 2002); Member of the editorial staff of The Red Moon Anthology (Red Moon Press, USA) since 2002; Editor of the Dutch/Flemish quarterly Vuursteen (Flint) (2003 – 2009); Associate Editor for Modern Haiku (USA) since 2007; Owner of ‘t schrijverke, Dutch publishing house since 2005. He was also Editor of the Dutch/English haiku journal Whirligig that premiered in May 2010.

Books Published: Zijn met wat is [to be with what is; haiku in Dutch] (Sintjoris, Sint-Denijs-Westrem: Belgium, 1993); een beetje adem; [haiku in Dutch] (’t Hoge Woord, Bakhuizen: Netherlands, 1998); some breath [haiku in English] (’t Hoge Woord, Bakhuizen: Netherlands, 1999); geen woord teveel / not a word too much [haiku, bilingual] (’t Hoge Woord, Bakhuizen: Netherlands, 2000); smoke signals [nine rengay with Betty Kaplan] (’t Hoge Woord, Bakhuizen: Netherlands, 2003); om kort te gaan [to be short; in Dutch] (‘t schrijverke, ‘s-Hertogenbosch: Netherlands, 2005); Zwölf Monde / Twaalf manen / twelve moons [rengay With Horst Ludwig, trilingual] (‘t schrijverke, ‘s-Hertogenbosch: Netherlands, 2005); only the white [in English] (‘t schrijverke, ‘s-Hertogenbosch: Netherlands, 2008); Bleek bosvogeltje [white helleborine; a novel in Dutch] (’t schrijverke: ’s-Hertogenbosch, 2009).

freight train
a load of snow
going south

spring equinox
one dandelion
half open

every night
the reassuring sound
of the bolts

dark clouds
on the balance sheet
a small deficit

funeral procession
all along the cloud's edge 
a thin bright line

tin soldiers
the dead and the living
in the same box

in the night sky
swans flying over
lit by the village

the murmuring
of the little mountain stream
not a word too much

bare trees
no other sound but
falling snow

old folks home
the windows mirror
the afterglow

Credits: "freight train" - Frogpond 23:3 (2000); not a word too much: Radish 21 (2000); Letni Časi #30-31 (2006); "every night" - ginyu 10 (2001); "funeral procession" - Hermitage III (2006); Letni Časi #30-31 (2006); big sky: The Red Moon Anthology of English-Language Haiku (Red Moon Press, 2006); "spring equinox" - Woodpecker (2000/2); "in the night sky" - some breath (’t Hoge Woord, Bakhuizen: Netherlands, 1999); "bare trees" - geen woord teveel / not a word too much (’t Hoge Woord, Bakhuizen: Netherlands, 2000); "dark clouds" - Modern Haiku 33:2 (2002); "tin soldiers" - Frogpond 23:1 (2000); not a word too much: Radish 21 (2000); a glimpse of red: The Red Moon Anthology of English-Language Haiku (Red Moon Press, 2001); Letni Časi #30-31 (2006); World Haiku Association website; "the murmuring" - geen woord teveel / not a word too much (’t Hoge Woord, Bakhuizen: Netherlands, 2000); "old folks home" - Modern Haiku 31:2 (summer 2000); World Haiku Association website (October 2002).