Poetry Reading by Randy M. Brooks, Ph.D. Visiting Faculty at University of Missouri Rolla

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Randy M. Brooks, Associate Professor of English at Millikin University, received his PH. D. from Purdue University with a concentration in rhetoric and professional writing. He is co-editor (with his wife Shirley) of Mayfly magazine and publisher of High/Coo Press in Decatur, Illinois. High/Coo Press has published 53 chapbooks, most featuring English language haiku. Over four hundred of his poems have been published in small press and literary journals, and he is especially active in the haiku community. In 1992 he won a national haiku book award for The Midwest Haiku Anthology, co-edited with Lee Gurga. He is currently co-editor of the forthcoming anthology--Global Haiku: 25 Excellent Haiku Writers. Check out his complete curriculum vita for more details.

Poetry by Randy Brooks

I will begin with some of my favorite haiku, with a short explanation of the haiku enjoyment process. Haiku are not intending to be read in large groups, but savored one at a time as a moment unique unto itself.

Therefore, haiku are often read out loud very slowly, or even repeated so that the listeners have a chance to imagine themselves into the moment fully before moving on to the next haiku.

I will begin with an image of my grandmother. I used to spend a couple of weeks with my grandparents in the summer during harvest season, to help with the farm chores. These first haiku come from my days on the farm or preparing to go to the farm out in western Kansas.

dirt farmer's wife at the screen door... no tractor sound Midwest Haiku Anthology		school's out-- a boy follows his dog into the woods Midwest Haiku Anthology
	the mailman's dust passes him at the mailbox Haiku World Anthology
bingo boards empty- another widow intercepts the old man's wink Frogpond		grandpa's domino adds up again not a grin Hummingbird

This poem is about my grandfather's funeral. Grandpa was a boisterous jokester so his funeral just didn't seem right from beginning to end. It felt like it wasn't really Grandpa, even though that's why we were there.

Grandpa Horizontal

never saw him on his back glasses not quite down the bridge of his nose nostril hairs clipped so without a grin the jokester seems too flat eyes shut in the coffin I can almost wait for the last laugh but nothing comes to mind but the silence of my grandpa horizontal

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Life Cycle

underwater skin tight too tight to slip out of with grace veins pump the gossamer wings rise, eyes fill with double skies mouthless the mayflies flutter to make love in midair pressing rings into the water where fish and other devils feed the fertile eggs float free

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It is a great joy to be an editor of a haiku magazine called Mayfly. (Sample issues were given to the audience at the poetry reading.) Here are samples from some of our recent issue 23 published last May, 1997.

mackerel sky-- a barefoot boy baits his hook --R.A. Stefanac		gently I opened hair in morning tangles her hand on my neck --Charles Rossiter
	in the shower doubled over losing her child --Heidi Fluhr
home again the kitchen chair still holding my place --Yvonne Hardenbrook		rickety stairs-- honeysuckle clinging to the banister --Daniel Mills

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Call to Nature

breasts filling with expectation, she finds herself easily asleep with the energy a growing babe takes   her nipples stiffen without the slightest thought awakening to lift the babe within off   her bladder not very but too full to rest brazening barefoot over the cool wood floor   answers the call, of not too late, nature --Wolf's Head

sun coming up... five eggs in the iron skillet --James Tipton		boiling beet tops only for the scent Papa loved --Raymond Roseliep
	dead cat open-mouthed to the pouring rain --Michael McClintock
campfire extinguished, the woman washing dishes in a pan of stars --Raymond Roseliep		the lambs sold tufts of wool on the wire fence --James Tipton

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Tulley Monster

for Lee   tulley's monster he shows me in stone cracked open   the pointed head the cold turn of the body held   in my sweaty palm the old ways in mud   where breath pressed out the bone

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Japan Trip Haiku

Last spring, I had the pleasure of being a guest speaker and reader in several communities in Japan. My greatest joy was simply being with haiku poets and editors as my guides. We stayed in Japanese hotels instead of tourist hotels, so it was very interesting. These haiku are from my trip.

no crumbs left, the girl continues to reach carp's open mouth Kyosumi Garden, Tokyo		cool haiku stone black ant down and out of the kanji Matsuyama City Haiku Award
	what's the rush? tilt of my head under the wisteria at noon Hoshi Haiku Anthology
two lines in the water... not a word between father and son Matsuyama, Japan		communion bread in his quaking hand, no grasp left Northwest Literary Forum

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What Turtles Eat

across the double yellow line through blistering August heat   grandma wants to know what turtles eat   how old they get   can I tell its sex   and do I think she ought to keep him   safe from cars and dogs   and what about the teenagers it might meet   glistening wet under the sprinkler, sun runs off his back

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Mitzy Haiku

More recently, I have written about the loss of one of our family members, a cat named Mitzy. Mitzy was twenty years old when she died on October 19, 1997, so she has been part of our household longer than any of our children (my oldest son is a college freshman at Bradley University this year).

rocking chair... she strokes the old cat in her lap		her hand on my shoulder... an email to our son about his old cat
	first her mother, now her mother's cat... frost in the garden
frost in the garden-- tucking the cat's feet in with my spade		spring evening-- playing with the last kitten to be given away --Chuck Brickley

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Randy's Favorite Poetry Links

Shiki Haiku Link

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