Poet Profile

Joan D. Stamm

Joan got hooked on haiku and other Japanese Zen arts in the early '90s when she lived in Japan. Her favorite pastime was wandering through the temples and gardens of Kyoto trying to capture the essence of her experience in those three--not so simple--lines. Back in the States she would attend a haiku retreat at Daibosatsu Temple in New York, which inspired her to initiate a renga, or linked verse, in order to stay connected with East Coast haiku poets. Dubbed "The Coast-to-Coast Renga," it would take three years to complete, and would eventually appear in How to Haiku, a Writer’s Guide to Haiku & Related Forms by Bruce Ross. For many years, Joan participated with Haiku Northwest in Seattle. Now that she lives on Orcas Island, her dream is to start a Zen and Zen arts center, where haiku, ikebana, calligraphy and tea ceremony are studied and practiced along with zazen. In her new book, Heaven and Earth are Flowers: Reflections on Ikebana and Buddhism, each chapter begins with a haiku or Japanese poem from the ancient masters.

Books Published: Heaven and Earth are Flowers: Reflections on Ikebana and Buddhism (Wisdom Publications, 2010).

the garden wall	
cannot contain
the weeping cherry

orange carp
pursing its lips
through autumn's debris

on the backs of rocks
hikers
crossing the stream

home with flu
watching shadows
on an open book

the neighbor's fence
won't stop
my mother's garden

waiting, waiting—
and still
the snow falls

Credits: "the garden wall" - Haiku Headlines (April 1994); "on the backs of rocks" - Haiku Headlines (August 1993); "the neighbor's fence" - Frogpond XVI:2 (1993); "orange carp" - Haiku Headlines (November 1993); "home with flu" - Frogpond XVI:2 (1993); "waiting, waiting" - Frogpond XVI:2 (1993).