Haiku by Katie Steimann Preface From the days of Bashô and Issa to the present, the writers of haiku have followed and continue to contribute to a tradition of excellence and poignancy. My first encounter with haiku in the spring of this year opened my eyes to this great art form. Haiku has the ability to examine the human role in nature and how we coexist within our world and the universe that surrounds us.
This short poetic genre originally seemed to me to be an outlet for the acknowledgement of the small moments in life; those that have the greatest impact, but often go unnoticed. Now that I have gained experience with them, not only through personal writing practice, but through a wide readership of other authors, I have come to see them as so much more. Not only are haiku a venue for reflective thought and sentiment, but they are also able to provide a format for the evocation of mood, scene, and emotion. Though many of these haiku originated from self-contemplative thought, since my first collective attempt, they have grown to acknowledge more than this self-centered limitation. By reading and learning from the masters and with carefully guided teaching and observation, I have come to accept the small part of the individual in the beauty of the larger world. The greatest haiku truly are those that are whole in themselves and their place, those avoiding the expression of the pretentious and analytical nature we often cannot escape. -Katherine B. Steimann
Reader's Favorite My favorite haiku by Katie is one that I think stand out in many people's minds when looking back on our Kukai over the semester. That haiku is: Notre Dame cathedral the whispers of atheists I remember when I first read this haiku I was absolutely swept away. I thought it was truly amazing how she could take something so vast and so awesome and condense that image into such a small form. I think this haiku is one of Katie's more powerful haiku. I love how even the atheists are in awe of the beauty of Notre Dame cathedral and find themselves whispering. I just absolutely love this! Throughout the semester, Katie has inspired me with her work. This is just one of the examples of how inspiring her work can be. Her work is so visual, so powerful. She pulls from many facets of her life when writing her haiku. I used Katie as a mentor this past semester so that I could become a better writer of haiku. She is a very talented writer and I am so proud that she was my haiku buddy. Regan Bledsaw