Hi, I'm Rowan. . .

and you're probably (not) wondering what we're doing here. Honestly, I'm continuously stuck in an existential crisis. Whether that's my trauma, my Autism, or the collapse of society as we know it, I'll never quite know, but here we are, regardless. So, what do I do to cope with state of the world, you ask? I read, write, and study haiku.

In The Haiku Handbook, William J. Higginson says "The central act of haiku is letting an object or event touch us, and then sharing it with another." This is what I aim to do.

I always say that "I write for me and I publish for other people." This means that when an event, whether good or bad, affects me in some way, I purge it from my soul into the form of a poem, usually haiku or senryu. There are other forms I've written, but they're not my first love.

For me, the brevity in haiku is an art form in itself. There are layers of detail within the juxtaposition of just one image and just one moment. When these come together, it's like composing an intricate painting.

To say putting my most intimate moments on display is horrifying would quite literally be an understatement, but like I said, I publish for other people. If my poetry could affect just one person, to help them feel less alone in the world, to validate their experiences, too, then I'm doing something right... and that's all I could ever ask for.

underneath the same moon the ant and I Rowan Beckett Minor Frogpond, issue 41:2