Chris Merritt • kasen renga: Heavy Eyes

WORN SPARKLE A collection of Haiku by Chris Merritt Edited with Nichole Johnson Through the use of seasonal elements in my haiku I have attempted to contribute to the haiku community by incorporating nature into the human elements of life. In the haiku in this collection, I attempt to connect nature with life struggles. In some, the human resourcefulness allows the subject of the haiku to persevere through dedication and hard work, while in others the end result is troublesome, with the individual giving in to hardship. Through these haiku, I try to develop my feelings of success in life which is built on prevailing through hardships and building on them as lessons. Success comes from daily struggle, and it is not handed to you. If it is handed to you, you actually have received nothing. On the other hand, when lessons are not capitalized on, the result will be failure. This is highlighted in my title haiku: the elderly couple worn by life sparkle in each other's eyes In this haiku I represent success not merely as barriers avoided in the journey, but as the actual journey itself, which connects the two in the later years of their life

Editor's Introduction In selecting these haiku out of many possibile ones, we chose ones in which the seasonal element combines with the human element to bring out the beauty of haiku. In his writing, Chris Merritt attempts to deal with the human struggle, and successes and failures. His best haiku come when the reader is able to understand the moment by connecting to it with their own challenges in life. When the reader connects with the haiku, he is able to add his own experiences to the haiku, making them not only enjoy the haiku, but also become part of it. at dinner the silent couple desperate for words He is able to convey a moment between two people that brings discomfort. The reader can see this many ways. I see it two ways: as either a word-down relationship that has long overextended its time and the two are just too comfortable and therefore unable to break it off, or I see it as a first date gone extremely bad when all the excitement of the date has yeilded to the fact that they are incompatible. Nichole Johnson