POEM - "HAIKU 3" by Thomas Herr

Haiku 3

By Thomas Herr

The promise of touch and kiss

And the prospect of healing us through fingertips

Means the answer is yes.

eNothing Audio Series "American Haiku" reading by Jack Kerouac (with Jazz Sax riffs!)

This delightful 9 minute audio features Jack Kerouac reading his form of Haiku (self-named "American Haiku") which influenced by the irreverence of the Beat Generation and the coolness, looseness and improvisation of American Jazz. 

Kerouac's form of Haiku was (like the Beat movement itself) a slap in the face of tradition.  As poetry, the strict syllabic rules of traditional Japanese Haiku are ignored in favor of a looser "statement, tension, resolution" style of poetry following the musical tenets of blues and Jazz.

In fact when you listen to each of Kerouacs "American Haiku" poems, you'll notice that each one is followed by an interpretive, creative jazz or blues saxophone riff which closely resembles the mood of the haiku which preceded it!  Delightful.

Enjoy:

"Haiku 2" by Thomas Herr

Haiku 2

by Thomas Herr 

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Crisp deep sky to-night

   bright Autumn moon 

long shadows cross the pale path home



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"HAIKU 1" by Thomas Herr

Haiku 1

Elevate my baby

   there's his balls

It's a boy

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