diamond ring
all the facets
of desire

Published by

Roland Packer

Roland lives in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. For over 40 years he has worked as a professional musician in various roles; performer, teacher and composer. He has been writing haiku since the early 80s and has authored a mini-chapbook,"Wayfarers" (Phafours Press, 2017) and a full-length collection, "no heroic measures" (Red Moon Press, 2024).

7 thoughts on “”

  1. Really vibrant haiku Roland. Indeed, I love how the poem itself is sharply faceted. I am struck by how the sparkling visual image is turned inward, and the light source shifts from external reflection to internal fire. Like a prism, which splits light into a rainbow, this haiku refracts the human motivation of "desire", which as the author alludes, is definitely not monochrome. A very enriching and beautiful haiku.

    I also would like to take this opportunity to make an appeal to fellow Tinyworders about labelling poems "senryu".

    Some regular readers may recall a lengthy rant I made on the subject when I first joined this forum. English Language Haiku does not have an established tradition of "senryu" and there is no settled definition. Sometimes, however, it is used in a disparaging way to suggest at best a poem which is not sufficiently "deep" to deserve the title "haiku", and at worst, to be a label for "failed haiku". For these reasons I feel really uncomfortable when readers use this term in their commenting on poems on this forum. As I have said previously, I fear it preempts and may discourage other, perhaps novice poets and readers, from taking time to explore the work more deeply and finding subtle meanings, and even deep spirituality. Therefore might I again suggest, as a mark of respect to everyone on the forum, that unless an author has personally identified their work as "senryu" we simply refer to it as "haiku", "verse", "poem" or some other judgment-neutral term.

    Best wishes to all

    Strider

  2. How wonderful.

    The many facets of diamonds and desires. Can a diamond ring encapsulate all the facets of desire? One wonders.

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