Mick Mezza

1. How did you get started with haiku?

Myron Lysenko was reading haiku at poetry gigs roughly around 2014. I enjoyed hearing them and began trying to write them. Later, he advised me to try out NaHaiWriMo and he still sends messages to explore other haiku sites.

2. Tell us more about yourself.

I’m Italian-born, and migrated to Melbourne, Australia at the age of 8. I studied accounting at the age of 23 and have held a variety of professional, skilled, and unskilled jobs. I’ve been self-employed for the last 28 years.

Ducunt volentem fata, nonlentem trahunt.

Fate leads the willing; the unwilling it drags.

—Seneca

I had the muse since childhood but didn’t write things down until the age of 40. I then began reading at poetry gigs, and twenty years later I have published poetry, children’s stories, and five short plays. I studied a unit of script writing at Melbourne University, but otherwise have no formal education in literature. I call myself a freak. For fun I coach boys’ soccer and referee on weekends.

3. What does NaHaiWriMo mean to you?

I appreciate the challenge of writing a haiku with what first comes to mind when I receive a prompt. I also enjoy friends met through the site, meeting them on Zoom, and talking to them on Messenger and Facebook. I’ve made friends from all over the world through NaHaiWriMo. It’s wonderful to learn different cultures, mannerisms, and differences through haiku and our haiku community.

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

Find a juxtaposition that you can add to your opening image, observe what you see in daily life, and incorporate your observations into what you write.

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

swim at the beach

then shower

think I wet myself

gaia runs with nature’s

torch

gingko in autumn

gust of wind peels rose

petal by petal

her scent drifts on the wind