Three Hundred and Twenty-One Haiku: Intimate Reflections

The aim of the haiku poem is minimalistic: to crystallise the power of insights into a strict structure and short sequence of words. They capture instants of time in the life of a poet. This volume of over three hundred haiku describes these moments in time with maximum discipline, for a haiku has its own timeless code of expression which the poet must obey.

In this work, Michael J. Lee observes nature, society and himself caught up in their passage through time. The bulk of the poems were written during the seasons, challenges and breakthroughs of one year. There are also many verses of pure spiritual contemplation.

Three Hundred and Twenty-One Haiku is a kind of journal of a personal journey through life, sensitively recording impressions, thoughts, sensory experiences and insights, and even acts of worship, as they occurred, permeated with the freshness of each passing moment, such as during a visit to the beach, or just watching pets and creatures in the garden. He depicts a range of emotional states of mind from loneliness and fear to love and peacefulness There are also small cameos of his home town of Cape Town and of his nation, South Africa.

This engaging anthology covers themes as varied as the Big Bang and the laws of nature, in addition to reflections on the Creator-God and on time and change. With a tone of intimacy never far away, there are poems to his wife, haiku about the signs of the times we live in, with its phoniness and showmanship, as well as affectionate portraits of a glorious kingdom of nature.