Morning Haiku

by Sonia Sanchez

This new volume by the much-loved poet Sonia Sanchez, her first in over a decade, is music to the a collection of haiku that celebrates the gifts of life and mourns the deaths of revered African American figures in the worlds of music, literature, art, and activism. In her verses, we hear the sounds of Max Roach "exploding in the universe," the "blue hallelujahs" of the Philadelphia Murals, and the voice of Odetta "thundering out of the earth." Sanchez sings the praises of contemporaries whose poetic alchemy turns "words into gems": Maya Angelou, Richard Long, and Toni Morrison. And she pays homage to peace workers and civil rights activists from Rosa Parks and Congresswoman Shirley Chisholm to Brother Damu, founder of the National Black Environmental Justice Network. Often arranged in strings of twelve or more, the haiku flow one into the other in a steady song of commemoration. Sometimes deceptively simple, her lyrics hold a very powerful load of emotion and meaning.

There are intimate verses here for family and friends, verses of profound loss and silence, of courage and resilience. Sanchez is innovative, composing haiku in new forms, including a section of moving two-line poems that reflect on the long wake of 9/11. In a brief and personal opening essay, the poet explains her deep appreciation for haiku as an art form. With its touching portraits and by turns uplifting and heartbreaking lyrics, Morning Haiku contains some of Sanchez's freshest, most poignant work.

Genres: Poetry, Nonfiction, African American, American

120 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2010

About the author

Sonia Sanchez was born Wilsonia Benita Driver on September 9, 1934, in Birmingham, Alabama. After her mother died in childbirth a year later, Sanchez lived with her paternal grandmother and other relatives for several years. In 1943, she moved to Harlem with her sister to live with their father and his third wife.

She earned a B.A. in political science from Hunter College in 1955. She also did postgraduate work at New York University and studied poetry with Louise Bogan. Sanchez formed a writers' workshop in Greenwich Village, attended by such poets as Amiri Baraka (LeRoi Jones), Haki R. Madhubuti (Don L. Lee), and Larry Neal. Along with Madhubuti, Nikki Giovanni, and Etheridge Knight, she formed the "Broadside Quartet" of young poets, introduced and promoted by Dudley Randall.

Reviews

[Jean · Rating 5 out of 5]

From the very first page of what Sanchez calls "haikuography", I was mesmerized. In this introduction Sanchez states:

"From the moment i found a flowered book high up on a shelf at the 8th Street Bookshop in New York City, a book that announced Japanese haiku; from the moment i opened that book, and read the first haiku, i slid down onto the floor and cried and was changed. i had found me."

And, indeed, she has. In these beautiful haiku compilations, Sanchez morns and celebrates revered African Americans. She mourns and celebrates Emmett Till, 9/11,Philadelphia Murals, Odetta, Sarah Vaughn, St. Augustine and others.

I must purchase this small book for myself because it is one that I will read over and over.

Anyone who loves poetry should own a copy.

[tortoise dreams · Rating 4 out of 5]

A series of haiku sequences that are as passionate as any poetry written.

Poetry Review: Morning Haiku is not made of haiku in any traditional sense. They are not in the common 5/7/5 syllable count nor do they contain other conventional aspects of haiku such as a seasonal word or focus on nature. Instead these are haiku as written by Sonia Sanchez, short imagist and impressionist poems that are always powerful and transcendent. They employ metaphor and other poetic techniques rarely seen in haiku. Some would say these aren't haiku at all (and I can see that), but no one can deny that these inscribed moments are heartfelt and overflow with passion that touches the bone. I believe every word. Unique to this collection is that it's written in multiple haiku sequences, such as ten, 14, or 21 poem series. Almost all recognize and are dedicated to an African American (and one Latina) artist or leader of her time. Jazz artists such as Max Roach or Ray Brown, singers such as Odetta or Sarah Vaughan, writers such as Toni Morrison or Maya Angelou, painters, politicians, peace workers and more. What I especially appreciated is that although some of these touch dark lows in remembering those who have passed (Emmett Till), others celebrate the ecstatic joys, highs, and feelings of lives fully lived, and celebrating those who gave so much (Shirley Chisholm, Barbara Jordan). In Morning Haiku we get how Sonia Sanchez sees these folks, her vision, which may not match your own, but she shares sensation, rapture, and strength. For jazz drummer Man Roach she wrote "your hands/shimmering on the/legs of rain." For a friend she says, "You held us/with summer stained/smiles of hope." I don't know what a summer-stained smile is, but I get it. For blues and folk singer Odetta (one of the best sequences): "saluted our/ blood until we were/ no longer strangers." For jazz bassist Ray Brown: "hammering/ nails into the/ off ... beat." Other favorite suites of haiku were "haiku woman" and the concluding 9/11 poem. In her introductory "haikuography" Sanchez remembers that when she read her first Japanese haiku she "slid down onto the floor and cried and was changed. i had found me." Morning Haiku is Sonia Sanchez writing herself, her Western, her own American, haiku. Straight from the hole in the soul, her recognitions of the world and the people in it. [4★]

[Leslie · Rating 5 out of 5]

“5 haiku” (by Sonia Sanchez)
1.
You sniff
dog-like around
language

2.
i taste
your saliva spiked
with applause

3.
painted beads
falling from your
fingertips

4.
poems
going the wrong way
in moonlight

5.
you fast talking
manicured poet
sailing on glass.”


You won’t find “textbook” haiku in this book, yet haiku is a native language for this poet. Sonia Sanchez is a woo-er: a singer who calls out to love, stays awake when she could be sleeping listening for it; dances with it; overturns garbage and injustice to uncover it; she blesses and forgives us at our best and worst with her [deceptively simple] haiku medicine.

Thanks to Jean for recommending I read this one. I was going to list favorites but it turned out to be most of the book! Still, for the record, I love “haiku poem: 1 year after 9/11;” “memory haiku;” “”5 love love haiku;” “dance haiku;” “sister haiku (for Pat);” “15 haiku (for Toni Morrison);” and “9 haiku (for Freedom’s Sisters).

[Darryl · Rating 4 out of 5]

Morning Haiku is a slim collection of haiku compositions, most of which celebrate the lives and mourn the deaths of prominent African-American musicians, singers, writers, and activists. My favorite poem is 10 haiku (for Philadelphia Murals), which pays tribute to the murals created through the Philadelphia Mural Arts Program.

Morning Haiku is a gentle and evocative collection of poems, one that I'll return to repeatedly for greater enjoyment and appreciation.

[Phobean · Rating 3 out of 5]

Y'know, I really could have used some explanation of how Sonia defined haiku before going into this book. I expect there to be syllabic significance, like 5-7-5 or 3-5-3, and thus I felt confused throughout. I didn't know how to take what I was looking at, especially with so much variation in poem lengths. Love the idea of this book, though, and found it interesting how the poems were collected around a theme, which sometimes played out across the series of haiku and other times with each haiku building to an idea or celebration.

[♡ Dakota ♡ (Sarcasm is my middle name) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Four Stars.

[حسن · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have finally found a collection of Haikus that I enjoyed reading.



From “Haikus (for Freedom's Sisters)”

1.
(Kathleen Cleaver)
quicksilver
panther woman speaking
in thunder
2.
(Charlayne Hunter-Gault)
summer silk woman
brushing the cobwebs
off Southern legs
3.
(Shirley Chisholm)
We saw your
woman sound footprinting
congressional hallways
4.
(Betty Shabazz)
your quiet face
arrived at a road
unafraid of ashes . . .
5.
(Fannie Lou Hamer)
feet deep
in cotton you shifted
the country's eyes
6.
(Barbara Jordan)
Texas star
carrying delicate words
around your waist
7.
(Rosa Parks)
baptizer of
morning light walking us away
from reserved spaces
***

A video of Sanchez reading her Haikus for Toni Morrison
https://youtu.be/xPGh4rwSb_4
***

Well, these short poems (most of them are dedicated to authors, heroic figures and black activists) are not traditional Haikus -most probably the reason why I liked this particular collection- but belong to a poetry genre they call the “Western Haiku” (*) .

There is actually an ongoing academic controversy on whether or not the Western Haikus should observe the rules and the particular form of the traditional Haiku. During the last decades the western poets have continuously ‘americanized’ and altered the traditional form of the Japanese Haiku; by not confirming to its constraints, their objective was to craft Haikus that are modern and closer to the free verse poems.
Moreover, their characteristics are different in terms of structure, aesthetics, features and poetic devices.
I’ll share some few exemples:
- the traditional haikus have a title that its function is to complete the body of the poem.
- The Japanese Haiku is a three-line poem strictly disciplined to seventeen syllables, written in a 5/7/5 syllable count. The English language structure (the syntax, grammar etc..) however isn’t appropriate to follow this rule;
-in contrast with the traditional Haiku, non-traditional elements are increasingly creeping into the Western Haiku like the Alliteration, Personification, Rhyme, Conjunction, Metaphor and the Simile.

However, this categorization would be dismissed by Sanchez for she asserts in her essay that her haikus are unconventional and personalized. Her Haiku is fused with African elements and motifs, with an unusual textualization of form that she calls “Haikuography” (**).

This is her proper definition of her Haiku:
The Haiku For Me Is
Silence. crystals. cornbread
and greens laughter. brocades.
The sea. Beethoven. Coltrane.
Spring and winter. blue rivers.
Dreadlocks. blues. a waterfall.
Empty mountains. bamboo. bodegas.
Ancient generals. dreams. lamps.
Sarah Vaughn. Her voice exploding
in the universe, returning to earth
in prayer. Plum blossoms.
Silk and steel. Cante jondo
Wine. hills. flesh. perfume.
A breath inhaled and held.
Silence.


Also, some of Sanchez’s Haiku are crafted like a series of short consecutive stanzas that form one body of a poem:

Haiku (for Maya Angelou)

1.
You have
taught us how
to pray
2.
your poems
yellow tattoos on the
morning dew
3.
we dance
in the eye
of your pores
4.
in a sudden
pause of breath
secrets unlock
5.
you show us
how to arrange our
worldly selves
6.
your poems
a landscape of
seabirds.
***

From “10 haikus (for Max Roach)”

1.
Nothing ends
every blade of grass
remembering your sound
2.
your sounds exploding
in the universe return
to earth in prayer
9.
your drums
soloing our breaths into
the beat…unbeat
***


(*)
I highly recommend the reading of these short articles that explain and analyse the features of the Western Haiku, I found them quiet interesting:

-From 5-7-5 to 8-8-8: An Investigation of Japanese Haiku Metrics and Implications for English Haiku
https://terebess.hu/english/haiku/tot...
-On the characteristics of J. Kerouac’s “beat haikus”
https://terebess.hu/english/haiku/fol...
-How the Japanese Haiku was embraced by the English-speaking world.
http://www.bu.edu/wll/files/2017/10/G...

(**)
~ On the process of the transformation of the Haiku by Sanchez
http://www.magazine.poetrywitch.com/r...

~ This collection of 10 essays analyses and studies the Haiku of Sanchez: « Sonia Sanchez’s Poetic Spirit Through Baiku » by John Zheng (Editor). Unfortunately I haven’t found a copy of it yet.

[Dörte · Rating 4 out of 5]

her poetry is refreshing and good for beginners like me. it overs deep thoughts but on the same time is open for poetry beginners that do not know too much about it. the poems are beautiful and make me want to investigate/learn more about the people and situations they were written for.

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love this poet - her poems so lyrical and political.
she seems to love words and playing with the structure of the short poem- it's hard to not love words and fall into their meanings when you read her work.

[Sunny · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sonia Sanchez is so inspiring.

[Flo · Rating 4 out of 5]

is there no song that will bring rain to this desert?

Sep 23, 20

[Nathan Albright · Rating 3 out of 5]

There are at least a few quibbles that someone could have about this book.  As is frequently the case, the book is easier to appreciate if you come to this book sharing some of the ideological commitments that the author has.  I did not find this to be the case personally and so the author's rather strident political tone was personally alienating.  That is not to say that these are horrible poems; one could read a lot worse in this vein, as I have, but at the same time these are works which are not particularly deep or enjoyable when you come to them with very different worldview commitments than the author has.  The author writes these poems as a militantly political and not particularly patriotic black woman with ties to the Nation of Islam, and those do not happen to be commitments that I view with all that much favor.  The author seems to equate herself as a survivor of violence, whether that violence is the racism of American during her youth or the violence of the wars that America has fought against militant Islam since 2001, or hints of rape and the violence of slavery and its continuing repercussions in the author's own psyche.

This book consists of just over 100 pages of mediocre poetry with a sharp political angle that are divided into various topics and themes.  There are haiku here for Oprah, others for Philadelphia murals (which makes sense given that the poet has been the poet laureate for that city), others for Emmett Till (a victim of racism for allegedly flirting with a white woman), others for St. Augustine, still others written on the first anniversary of 9/11, and still others written for poet Maya Angelou.  The highest praise I can give to these poems is that they are readily understood and the author is not obscure.  Indeed, she could have stood to be a bit more subtle than she was, and it would have been quite alright by me at least.  At any rate, over and over again the author hits the reader over the head with her preferences and her commentaries on various matters.  Typically, she finds it hard to relate to St. Augustine, insulting him for being a mama's boy and a playboy, even as she revels in the supposed insights of Maya Angelou, a far more questionable source of wisdom and insight than even Augustine of Hippo.  Oh well.

It appears that like many people the author views haiku not as something requiring a particular syllable scheme of five-seven-five syllables, but rather a three line poem of fragmentary and allusive content in general.  I tend to be a bit more strict in terms of defining such poems personally, but the author writes with her own agendas and following such rules is clearly not her interest or intent.  Indeed, the author herself makes her agendas extremely common, failing to condemn Islamic extremism for 9/11 even as she writes a set of short poems a year after 9/11, as that would require something more than her attempts at blandly declaring various religious to be equal.  The author's lack of firmness against the violence of 9/11 and other acts of terrorism is starkly contrasted with the author's frequent writings about the acts of terrorism that were suffered by blacks in the south or the horrors of the Middle Passage.  Apparently she does not view 9/11 as being an attack on her personally in the same fashion as she views the slave trade (strangely, she only condemns that Atlantic Slave Trade and not that run by Muslims, another sign of her bias).  This is lamentable and greatly hinders the emotional power of her writing.

[angela · Rating 4 out of 5]

what can a haiku express? do?
what does such a concentration of language encourage?

sanchez’s poems pack a punch. don’t think this is a casual, leisure read. it requires presence, attention.

from the initial offering of haikuography, her theoretical approach is laid down and maintained through the pages of this book.

[Robert Beveridge · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sonia Sanchez, Morning Haiku (Beacon Press, 2010)

One of my favorite examples of people just not getting it is that of the Cult of Lovecraft. Hundreds of authors from August Derleth to Fred Chappell, of all people, have written direct-descendant works of Lovecraft. They vary widely in quality, of course, but most of them have the same basic format: take H. P.'s crrepy-crawlies and integrate them into the author's own style. Which is all well and good, and some of what has emerged from that process is pretty darned good. But then came a chap named Thomas Ligotti, who turned everything on its head. Instead of taking the creepy-crawlies and abandoning the style, Ligotti writes horrific little stories that have completely integrated Lovecraft's style, but with nary a hint of Cthulhu and company to be found. In short, Thomas Ligotti gets it, in a way no other author has, and as a result his stories are more “Lovecraftian” than any raft of August Derleths or Ramsey Campbells.

Needless to say, there's a parallel to be had here. American writers, or perhaps I should say “attempters”, of haiku take the creepy-crawlies, most notably the syllable count, without really grasping the concepts that lie behind haiku: economy (Henderson, in Haiku in English, notes that 5/7/5 generally results in haiku that are too wordy. Indeed.), mysticism, nature. Nature, in fact, is so important that haiku without a link to nature aren't haiku at all, they're actually senryu. Very few American authors understand this (in fact, the only one that comes to mind off the top of my head is Nick Mamatas, whose Cthulhu Senryu is a perfect example).

I've read god knows how many American collections of stuff pretending to be haiku. Most of it doesn't even rate as decent senryu. And then there is Sonia Sanchez' Morning Haiku, which is the Thomas Ligotti of Asian poetic form, with the allowance that Sanchez is mostly writing senryu here.

“trees praising our innocence
new territories dressing our
limbs in starched bones”
(“15 haiku for Toni Morrison”)

Sanchez is totally focused on the image here, as regards the construction of an individual senryu, and because of that, she gets it in a way few others do. That alone makes this not only well worth the price of admission, but most likely the best book of senryu-masquerading-as-haiku by an American author you will read all year, no matter what year you read it in.

On the other hand, now that I've praised the tree, I've got to mention at least in passing that the forest is a little too message-based. Sanchez' excellent focus on the construction of each piece is just as evident when it comes to the subjects she picks, and so she often ends up paying lip service to the mystical/natural elements of the form at best. This can be a bit disappointing at times, given how well her talent at working this form comes through again and again in the book:

“footprints blooming
in the night remember
your blood”
(“14 haiku for Emmett Louis Till”)

...but don't let that stop you from reading this one. You want to. *** ½

[ALICIA MOGOLLON · Rating 3 out of 5]

Seems like a very loose interpretation of haiku, or perhaps I don't fully understand haiku. I've always thought traditional haiku, was 5, 7, 5 syllables. So if you're expecting that, these poems will probably be a let down. However, after getting into reading them, I was able to appreciate them for the images and thoughts they created. some of my favorite stanzas

your sound
sweet perfume
on my thighs

-the morning sky
so lovely
imitates your laughter

-your mouth
a sweet wind
painted with hieroglyphics

finally to pass
your song into our
ancestral rivers

-your hands
humming hurricanes
of beauty

-i, a passerby
to your death
cradle your breath

i, a sleepwalker
to dreams, imagine you a
crane flying south.

(this last is an excerpt from a poem entitled, Haiku Poem: 1 yr after 9/11)
-why do some days wear the
clothing of a beggar...

how did this man become
a free falling soliloquy

why did September come whistling
through the air in a red coat...

[Sharyn Flanagan · Rating 5 out of 5]

These beautiful poems not only offer great questions with wonderful answers, but also gave me a whole new perspective on life. I.AM.CHANGED! Sonia Sanchez turns words into sounds and colors. Reading the short verses of my beloved haikus made me want to analyze my history -- heck our history and those important to Black history. Some haikus made me want to talk to others about their impressions, while others made me yearn for quiet, insightful solitude. There was just so much in so little space. I.AM.CHANGED! I'll have to share more on my blog later, what an awesome collection of poems. Thank you Sister Sonia!

[Hannah · Rating 4 out of 5]

I quoted about half of this book in my journal. "Freedom's Sisters" was a favorite section, but all the tributes are touching.

(for Maya Angelou)
You have
taught us how
to pray

(for Shirley Chisholm)
We saw your
woman sound footprinting
congressional hallways

"her voice exploding in the universe, returning to earth in prayer." (of Sarah Vaughn)

[January · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is hands down the best book I've read in the last year. Of course, I am a poet, so I do have a certain bais. But it is Sanchez's daring and prowess when it comes to language that inspire me to no end. She is indeed a force and a vector in modern poetry.

[Jenny (Reading Envy) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Little tribute poems, not always haiku....

[Ebony · Rating 3 out of 5]

morning haiku is no love poems, but sanchez is still at her best with these pithy poems. jazz enthusiasts should especially love her musician tributes.

[Danielle · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this book over and over, revisiting my favorite poems. It tickles my soul. Cheesy, I know, but true...

[Xicana · Rating 5 out of 5]

Simply amazing.........

[Rachel · Rating 5 out of 5]

beautiful

[jo ♡ · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have fallen for the haiku, thanks to Sonia Sanchez. Lately I've been under Poem's spell and Sonia's work has only strongly reaffirmed my passion for poetry and writing. What a blessing.

[Kayla · Rating 4 out of 5]

Historically chilling, beautiful poetry that breaks my heart in every way.

[Lisbeth Coiman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Poems for peace

[Chaneli · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sonia is one of my absolute favorite poets! She is so elegant with her words and descriptions and I just want to read everything of hers. So so good.

[Sonia Allison · Rating 5 out of 5]

10:45 am Tuesday
love

[Mounia · Rating 5 out of 5]

beautiful haikus that made me feel like poetry is ours as well.

[Kimberly Seibert · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a beautiful book of dedicated Haikus. Small prose with big impact. Sonia Sanchez writes in a way that blends the haikus together, I've never seen such presented like this.