by Alison

Before becoming a mom, a typical Saturday morning for me would include yoga class followed by a leisurely coffee at my local cafe.

These days I can only look forward to such a morning in the form of a birthday or mother’s day gift from husband — you know, one of those handmade coupons tucked in a pretty card and promising me a day to myself.

Ah, well. But I still love cafes, even if my weekly jaunts to a cafe are a little less leisurely.

I love a good espresso or the occasional caramel latte, but truth be told, my love of cafes is not about the coffee — it’s the human connection that draws me.

Whether I am at a cafe to sit quietly and read, meet up with a girlfriend or stop in for a quick caffeine fix, I just love the company cafe life allows me to keep … busy professionals, teenagers texting, blind daters over expressing, moms chasing toddlers along with writers tapping away on their iMacs. Cafe life is vibrant and varied.

And with this in mind I assumed Cafe Haiku was written just for me. It’s a collaboration of photographs and haiku by cross continental friends Zenbu Nometa of Shingu, Japan and Jeffrey Goldsmith of San Francisco, USA. Their book, Cafe Haiku, is a fun and cheeky little look at cafe life.

The haiku that were most interesting to me were (of course) about the people. Such as this one:

Hi there, Nicotine.

Would you like one? Oui, bien sur.

Devilish cafe friend.

Perhaps it’s not legal to smoke in many cafes in the States anymore, but I love this one for painting a little scene of boundaries being blurred and intimacies being formed which is so common in the world of cafes.

Also memorable for me is this one, which makes me think of my college days:

To cafes they go.

To talk of one thing most dear.

Michelangelo.

I might feel a little pretentious waxing on and on about the great artists in some settings. But at a cafe? Never!

Now a book about cafes would not be complete without mention of coffee and this is where Cafe Haiku puts it’s focus, which was not surprising after all seeing as how the book was published by the Caffeine Society.

And although I wish Cafe Haiku contained more haiku about the living pulse of cafe life, I did enjoy many of the caffeinated poems. Such as this one:

Why just go Euro?

Vietnam’s got great Java.

Condensed black and white.

Oh, that sounds intriguing! And with the very pleasing accompanying photograph, oh yum! I could use a Vietnamese Java tout de suite.

Wait. What did I just say???? I do not speak French but it seems this book has made an impression on me. I think I’m going to have to cash in that coupon gift from husband and head to a cafe. And then I shall surely spend half the day reading, chatting, people watching, drinking Java and of course…. writing haiku.

by Kelly

I’m a radio star!

Well, perhaps not quite. But I did get my name mentioned on air along with two of my haiku!

Many months ago, I submitted two of my travel-themed haiku to Rick Steves (travel guru extraordinaire) for inclusion in one of his future radio programs. Well, the future finally arrived. My haiku were read on Saturday’s show, which was December 12, 2009.

You can listen to the entire broadcast online. The first half of the program is about how Christmas is celebrated in Wales. The second half of the broadcast is all about sheep. Yes. Sheep.

The travel haiku don’t come in until the very end–specifically at minute marker 50:25. Once the program uploads, you can easily skip ahead to the best part, which is–of course–the haiku part!

My haiku are the second and third to be read.

Here is the link to the radio program.

And if you want to try your own hand at travel haiku to see if you too can get yours read on the air, this page will tell you how to do it: Travel Haiku with Rick Steves.

THat

by Kelly

Caribbean dreams

develop while I’m cleaning —

blue toilet water

by Alison

daughter knows it’s me

smiling in those photographs,

young in Mexico

by Kelly

I can’t think of a more perfect book for me.

The Haiku Apprentice, written by Abigail Friedman, combines global travel — my long-time love — with memoir — my favorite sort of book to read — with haiku — my current literary obsession.

And you want to know the best part?

The book rocks!

Which was such a relief. Considering all the things it had going for it, my expectations were admittedly high. But lucky, lucky me, The Haiku Apprentice rose to meet — and exceed — each of my overblown hopes.

Since turning its final page, I’ve recommended this book to several people who’ve asked me about the ins-and-outs and whys-and-hows of haiku.

The book offers lessons about the history and culture of haiku while surrounding these themes with an overarching travel tale.

The author, Friedman, is an American woman living in Japan and working as a diplomat. One evening, while attending a work function, an older Japanese gentleman invites her to join his haiku group. She doesn’t consider herself a poet, but decides to attend on a lark.

However, before she herself knows what’s happened, she gets hooked on haiku. What follows is her attempt to understand the essence of haiku. Her quest is to discover what makes haiku “Japanese.”

The book really helped me understand the ideals for which haiku strives. Plus, at the end, it offers suggestions for how to form a haiku group (something I envision myself doing one of these days).

If you’re just starting out in the haiku world, or if you’ve been haiku’ing for a long time, or if you don’t care a lick about haiku and just want to read an interesting travel story, I totally and unequivocally recommend The Haiku Apprentice.

Find it on Amazon: The Haiku Apprentice: Memoirs of Writing Poetry in Japan

by Alison

What’s around that bend?

An old church, a lilac tree,

a  field of horses?

by Alison

these roads are crumbling -

yet the town next door repaves

their perfect highways

by Kelly

spa treatments black jack

poolside sun and oh la la

Vegas here I come

by Alison

he never forgot

my happiness those summer

days in New Hampshire

by Alison

more hard-shelled creatures

copulating in the bay -

this time Horse Shoe Crabs