A Poetry Month Coloring Book Discovered!

While combing the stacks at one of my alternate comic book shopping locations I came across a coloring book, which is apparently based upon a popular children's title, from Arcana Publishing, A Cat Named Haiku. Written by Mark Poulton and illustrated by Dexter Weeks, the small (24 pages) book cost only $2.95, and as suggested by the genre, consists of simple wordless pictures of a cat, presumably named Haiku, engaged in silly cat-like activities.

At the time that I initially saw is coloring book, I was a little cash-strapped (validating buying so many comic books is difficult enough--explaining the purchase of a coloring book to my wife might not be so easy), so I did not purchase it, a decision I now regret.

The source material, with the same title, on which the coloring book is based chronicles Haiku's antics in the eponymous three line poetry--as a fan of the form (as well as its variations) I will be ordering have ordered from my local comic shop!

First Haiga of NPM

Backyard, yesterday afternoon (3/31/12).

Under fragile pine,
shrewd rabbit nibbles damp grass
one blade at a time.

It's National Poetry Month, so it's as good a time as nay to get back on the haiga (haiku + image, in my case, photographs). The wonderful thing about haiku is that whether what you generate is "good" or "bad" there is always something (a moment) "around" one to offer worthy inspiration. Take, for example, the rabbit my wife and (mostly) I have been keeping an eye on for the past day.

While it has been entertaining the past few days watching the rabbit lay about our backyard avoiding the dog, my wife reminds me that it might not be quite so "fun" when the rabbit and his pals are eating away at our small vegetable garden in a few months.

At worst, though, the experience and frustration of warding off hungry bunnies it will supply fodder for a series of haiga/haiku. At best, they'll (the poems) actually be "good."