Debbie Guzzi

1. How did you get started with haiku?

I was exposed to poetry pretty much from birth to five years old by my mother. She loved the old masters and had me memorize “Paul Revere’s Ride” and “The Charge of the Light Brigade” among other poems by the time I was five years old. I’ve been writing as an emotional release since I was 16. My minor at university was English. I didn’t begin writing in earnest till around year 2000. I was fascinated by all the different forms of poetry. I’ve always been captivated by Eastern cultures and shamanic religions. After trips to China, Japan, and Nepal, I began to study eastern forms of poetry in more depth. Around that time, I met Michael Dylan Welch online and he gave me accurate directions on how to write haiku.

2. Tell us more about yourself.

I’m a visual learner, with a degree in fine arts and tendency towards spiritualism. I became very fascinated with haiku, which incorporates both of my interests. One of my best friends and I have just finished a book exploring global poetry forms, their origins, and cultures. The book is meant to expose novice poets and experienced readers to the joys of diversity.

3. What does NaHaiWriMo mean to you?

NaHaiWriMo helps me make new friends in poetry around the world. One of the regions I haven’t explored at all is the different forms of poetry in Africa or South America. I just love to learn and write.

4. What one piece of advice would you offer to those who are new to writing haiku?

My advice for writing haiku is that it is as much a spiritual exercise as a writing form. Think of it as a very short expression that passes on an amazement at the realization of beauty in nature, passed from the writer to the reader within a moment of time.

5. Please share three of your favourite or best haiku.

covered by fresh snow

the kale roots sipping the melt:

birds peck at the edge

         —Haiku Journal #42

the birch trees turn first

pale yellow among the green:

empty lifeguard chair

         —Haiku Journal #40

an egret fishes

in the roots of a felled tree—

sixty-second vine

         —Haiku Journal #27