Poet Profile

Jan Benson

Jan Benson was a Pushcart Prize nominated haiku poet living in Texas. Benson's haiku are anthologized in world-leading haiku journals and magazines, and have been translated into eight languages. Jan was a member of The World Haiku Association, and Poetry Society of Texas. Profiles can be found online at The Living Haiku Anthology and The Living Senryu Anthology.
Jan passed away peacefully on October 31, 2019.

Awards and Other Honors:

Pushcart Nomination by Dos Gatos Press (2014); First Prize, International Division, The Italian Matsuo Basho Awards, 4th Edition (2016); Third Place, OHANAMI, 2nd International Haiku Contest "Cherry Blossom" (2016); Honorable Mention, USA, The Vancouver Cherry Blossom Contest (2016).

migrant moon . . .
walking from weeds
into weeds

tectonic shift
the way debris settles
in the mind

picking blues
with a pocket-knife
pop's old dreadnought

gaps
in conversation
the shape of stillbirth

a womb
filled with cloud . . .
never-child

awaiting
the cardinals 
first snow

spring snow-melt
forgetting where
the pain is buried

green barley
a slack tide
of turfan silk

the weight of a scintilla Higgs field

spring equinox
the soft dawn
between us

Credits:

“migrant moon“ – Failed Haiku Issue 37, Jan. 2019; “tectonic shift“ – #FemKuMag Issue 7, Dec. 2018; “picking blues“ – Prune Juice #24, May, 2018; “gaps“ – Scryptic Issue 2.2, August 2018; “a womb“ – #FemKuMag Issue 6, Nov. 2018; “awaiting“ – Frameless Sky Issue 9, Dec. 2018. “spring snow-melt”- #FemKuMag Issue 2, July 2018; “green barley“ - Akitsu Quarterly Spring 2018; “the weight“ - Sonic Boom Issue 7, Dec. 2016; “spring equinox“ - The Enigmatist 2018.