Poet Profile

Don Baird

Don Baird entered the world of martial arts when he was 15, of which remains his life focus and career today. He has been featured in most of the major industry magazines including Inside Kung Fu, Black Belt, Inside Karate, and Fighting Stars. In 2009 he was inducted into the Masters Hall of Fame and was featured in two videos regarding policedefensive tactics (Hands On - Police Defensive Tactics). During his years of training kung fu, Baird became interested in Asian poetry and philosophy. Haiku became his first serious pursuit as a poet. While he had written various styles of poetry over the years, it was haiku/hokku that interested him most. From haiku/hokku, he soon included haiga (with photographs), tanka and haibun. Don is published in numerous books, anthologies and online journals including Ambrosia: Journal of Fine Haiku, Simply Haiku Journal, World Haiku Review, Notes from the Gean, Haijinx, Modern Haiku, The Heron's Nest, A Hundred Gourds, Bones, nothing in the window (Red Moon, anthology), Fear of Dancing (Red Moon, anthology), and Haiku 2014 (Gurga/Metz). His current projects are Under the Basho, an online journal of haiku and hokku of various styles from traditional to modern [http://www.underthebasho.com/ ]; and the Living Haiku Anthology [http://www.livinghaikuanthology.com]. He also runs Haiku Ponderings on Facebook where some of the top haiku poets in the world wrestle with concepts of haiku. [https://www.facebook.com/groups/haikuponderings/]

Awards and Other Honors: Third Place in the Kusamakura International Haiku Contest (twice); First Place in the Shokon Tadashi Kondo Award; First and Second Place, Shiki Kukai (March, 2011); First Place in The Haiku Foundation's Haiku Now! Contest, Modern Haiku Division (2013); The Haiku Foundation's Touchstone Award (2013).

Books Published: Haiku Wisdom (Modern English Tanka Press, 2011); As the Crow Flies (The Little Buddha Press, 2013); L.A. Thru a Lens (Notes of the Gean, 2013); Haiku - the Interior and Exterior of Being (The Little Buddha Press, 2014); Faces and Places (The Little Buddha Press, 2014); Ink Zero [with Dr. Richard Gilbert] (Ink Zero Press, 2015).

starlit morning—
the voice of spring
in the waterfall

Nagasaki . . .
in her belly, the sound
of unopened mail

weaving clouds. . .
a koi leaves the moon
behind

autumn eve
the hanging moon dallies
in the pond

autumn—
bones of an old man. . .
blend in

darkening sky
the crow disappears
into a cloud

Credits: "starlit morning" - Second Place, Shiki Kukai (March 2011); "weaving clouds" - Simply Haiku (Autumn 2009); "autumn" - Simply Haiku (Summer 2009); "Nagasaki" – First Place, HaikuNow! (The Haiku Foundation, 2013); The Haiku Foundation's Touchstone Award (2013); "autumn eve" - World Haiku Review (August 2009); "darkening sky" - First Place, Shiki Kukai (March 2011).