by Kelly

Darling clementine –

lip smack sweet fruity candy.

By noon I’ve had five.

The parks are empty -

snow, slush, rain, no cheerios.

Squirrels go hungry.

by Alison

Motherhood is hilarious. I didn’t know this until I had my own little girl a year and a half ago. Now that I have her, though, I’m so happy to have found Haiku Mama, a book by Kari Anne Roy. Her mommy haiku are every bit as funny as motherhood.

In this book of wee-sized poems, Ms. Roy shares not only the joys, but also the agonies of motherhood. She also manages to cover the ridiculous aspects, too.

Her haiku show just how much we love our children and just how imperfect all of us are in our parenting adventures.

Imperfect parent? Who me? Sadly, yes.

But the good news is that Haiku Mama will cause anyone outside the uber-mom category to joyously giggle.

Before reading Haiku Mama, I had no idea, for example, that other moms (and their tots) dealt with this problem . . .

A new universe

begets strange new forms of life

in lost sippy cups.

Now, though, I’m thrilled to know I’m not the only one who finds gross things growing in my daughter’s lost sippies.

Of course there are also haiku about the lovey-dovey dumpling moments that, even in their sweetness, are still quite funny. Like this one . . .

Sniffing newborn’s head

a primal urge takes over –

try not to eat him.

Did I know that I would be a head-sniffer before motherhood? Absolutely not. But now I know I’m not the only one.

And then there are the moments we don’t want to advertise to our friends and family . . .

Child hugging t.v.

should probably not be your

Christmas card this year

Moments like this might stay safely hidden when it comes to our yearly, holiday newsletters, but Kari Anne Roy lets it all hang out in her book. And for this, I adore Haiku Mama.

If you want to check out more from Kari Anne Roy, you can also visit her blog.

All haiku in this post © Kari Anne Roy.

Find Haiku Mama on Amazon:
Haiku Mama: (because 17 syllables is all you have time to read)

by Kelly

His lips hover, tease.

“Write a haiku about this,”

Hubby smirks and dares.

It’s been brought to our attention that our passion for haiku is a bit . . . shall we say . . . unconventional. Most people, when we tell them about Haiku By Two, respond with a kind of quizzical glance.

After all, it’s not everyday that you run across someone who keeps a haiku blog. But, believe it or not, there actually are quite a few haiku enthusiast kicking around out there.

As proof, we’ve pulled together several different lists of haiku-related sites. We’ve slapped some category headers on them in an attempt to ease the browsing process.

If you know a site you think belongs on one of our lists, let us know.

Links to Haiku Blogs

Links to Specialty-Themed Haiku Blogs

Links to Combination Haiku-Photography Sites

Links to More Serious Haiku Endeavors

Link to Haiku By Two

by Alison

cat scratched furniture

wood plank floors sticky with milk

all is in order

by Kelly

Just the other day, right here on Haiku By Two, I published a review of a book called Dog-Ku. It’s a collection of haiku written from a dog’s point of view.

Well, actually, it’s written from several dogs’ point of view. But there are two dog voices that outweigh all the others. Those voices belong to Zac, a black Lab-Rhodesian Ridgeback, and E.D., a German Shepherd-Lab mix.

Zac and E.D. call Steve D. Marsh their human being. Through him, they channeled their haiku from their doggy brains to English letters we can read.

I caught up with Mr. Marsh via email to ask him a few questions about what it’s like to live with such talented dogs.

Was it hard to get inside your dogs’ heads?

No, in fact, as I confess in the book’s introduction, they first got inside my mind.

I think it was a kind of ESP. Extra Species Perception.

Do your dogs always think in haiku?

No, in fact, my dogs don’t always think.

Once, Zac got so excited at the unexpected appearance of his sisters at the park that he bounded and dragged me face first through a 30-foot mud puddle.

I did plenty of thinking after that, but most of what I was thinking you can’t put on your web site!

In what ways in haiku particularly suitable for expressing a dog’s point of view?

Simple, honest, direct. Could a dog be anything else?

Haiku is short, to the point, often wise, funny, insightful. All dog.

Do you view your dogs differently now?

Not really. I think I must have been a dog in a previous life. There seems to be plenty of dogness left over.

Have you ever noticed that the percentage of bad dogs is a lot smaller than the percentage of bad people? Maybe I just hang around with the wrong kind of politicians, but that’s what I’ve seen.

Have your dogs written any new haiku lately?

Absolutely. Come on over to www.dog-ku.com and see the latest.

In fact, feel free to leave a haiku of your own for Zac and E.D. to enjoy.

Find Dog-Ku on Amazon:
Dog-ku: Very Clever Haikus Cleverly Written by Very Clever Dogs

Haiku Del Dia
An East Coast writer posts a haiku a day.

The Haiku Diaries
Two women keep a daily haiku blog covering just about anything . . . customer service, dogs, dead authors . . . you name it.

My Mommy’s Place
This stay-at-home, Ohio mom posts a new haiku each day.

Haiku Friday at A Mommy Story
Every week, bloggers from across the blog-o-sphere submit haiku for a chance to win the coveted Haiku Friday spot on the A Mommy Story web site. Haiku Friday topics are far reaching and way beyond mommy-hood. For example, recent winners have haiku-ed about Heath Ledger, Black Friday and New Year’s Resolutions.

Haiku of the Day
The fabulous author of Haiku Mama serves up haiku coupled with life stories. What a great combo.

Hot Cross Haiku
Started by a blogger in Melbourne, Australia, Hot Cross Haiku also accepts submissions of haiku from around the world.

Haiku By Fred Masarani
Fred, from New York, is prolific in his haiku.

Haiku-USA
Haiku by Bill, who started writing haiku one month before his 72nd birthday. Who says you can’t teach an old dog new tricks?

Lunch Break
A Haiku, Haiga dialogue by Gillena Cox who lives in sunny St. James on the island of Trinidad. Check out Gillena’s multi-media haiga which includes photography, quilting, video and much more!

Haiku Sue
Oh, this is cool! Haiku Sue is an advice columnist for the online San Francisco-based newspaper Style Wylde. Haiku Sue’s claim to fame? All of her advice is succinctly and poetically given in haiku form. Sage Advice in 17 Syllables! Now that’s advice I can follow.

Kami Haiku
“Micro Poetry For The Urban Spirit.” A selection of haiku, senryu, zips, tanka and cinquains by a Brooklyn-based writer and teacher.

Reflective Ink
“Musings on writing and life…”  This is a lovely blog. Fascinating reflections on poetry and haiku as well as original haiku by G.R. LeBlanc. Very fun, very interactive. Check it out!

Meat Haiku
Would you believe that Burger King hosted a meat-lovers haiku contest? It’s true. The contest ran in Canada. What? American meat heads can’t compose haiku?

Beer Haiku Daily
A new haiku each day and every one is about beer. Amazing.

Red Wine Haiku Review
If there’s such a thing as beer haiku, why not wine haiku? Every time this guy cracks a bottle of wine, he writes a haiku about it. At the time of this posting, he was up to 378 wine haiku. That’s a lot of wine!

Presidential Haiku
Need to brush up on your American history? Here, you’ll find haiku about each of the presidents. Who said politics was boring?

Haiku Circus
Comic strips that incorporate haiku. Unfortunately, the artist stopped regular postings in 2008. Fortunately, all of the archives are online and easily accessible. Really, you should check these out. High marks in the creativity department!

Crows & Daisies
What a cool site. Every one of this blogger’s posts includes a photograph and a haiku (or a haiku-like poem) in English and in Slovenian. At least I think it’s Slovenian. That’s where the blogger lives.

Eric’s Haiku
Eric posts photos and haiku from his San Diego studio.

Brooks Books Haiku
Hosts several collections by various authors of combo haiku-photography projects.

Tiny Topaz
Pretty pictures served up with “. . . perfect words in perfect order.” Those would be the blogger’s words. What a nice way to define a haiku.

Haiku For You
A husband-wife duo solicit reader suggestions then create an image and a haiku to tell a story. Quite a cool site. Check it out!

My Mother’s Haiku
Traditional haiga by a Japanese artist and poet living in Japan. Haiga is “a harmony of painting and haiku poetry” says the artist. Beautiful work and a wonderful introduction to haiga.