This week I am pleased to welcome back Devin Harrison, who we first met in Episode 8.

He lives on Vancouver Island in Canada, which I believe is a very beautiful place. Devin has been published in numerous journals, as what he calls “a regular poet”, but in the last 5 years, he has got into haiku. If you would like to read more of his haiku you can find his book, published in 2017: Meeting Myself at the Gate on Amazon.

So here is Devin’s haiku or should we really call it senryu? That discussion is for another day:

in passing
my father’s breath
on the mirror

The meaning is quite obvious on first reading.

It felt very personal to me. I saw myself passing a mirror in my parent’s hallway after my father had died. I could imagine exactly what Devin had written.

However, don’t just take it at face value. I urge you to go back and listen or read it again because there are layers within these few words. I particularly enjoy the cleverness of the words “in passing” and what they give to the work.

Thank you Devin. A piece that will stay with me for some time .

 

Week 27: The guest haiku from Devin Harrison