Dragonfly Haiku

Dragonfly Haiku gathers over one hundred haiku, all pertaining directly or indirectly to dragonflies, by three authors. Here, new English translations of classical haiku by Japanese poet Kobayashi Issa converse with modern haiku by poet scientists Ken Tennessen and Scott King. Eleven of the Issa poems have been annotated and printed with the original Japanese text.

A delightful little book in which two contemporary poets join Issa for a nature walk, celebrating the life and moods of a remarkable insect through the timeless, one-breath art of haiku.

• David G. Lanoue, former President of the Haiku Society of America and author of Issa and the Meaning of Animals

This little book of haiku is a rich store of thought-provoking commentary on all aspects of dragonfly life. Poetically presented but nonetheless to the point, each haiku evokes a picture of these wonderful insects and, no less, the gifted people who study them.

• Dennis Paulson, author of the Princeton Field Guides Dragonflies and Damselflies of the West and Dragonflies and Damselflies of the East

Dragonfly Haiku is drop-dead delightful. I would buy this book for the pleasures of its design, alone; or the clean and joyful translations of Issa; or the dragonfly haiku by Tennessen; or the dragonfly haiku by King. Taken together, the book offers more fun, almost, than a person can stand. There’s one haiku after another I wish I had written. I confess to reading straight through like some kind of haikuholic, but I’ll be going back to give each haiku, each dragonfly, the attention it deserves. And I’ll also buy copies for friends.

• Bart Sutter, first Poet Laureate of Duluth and author of Chester Creek Ravine: Haiku