Rob Mestre
Orlando, Florida, USA
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Haiku Treasure Trove is this magazine's feature
for raising the readers' awareness to fine haiku composed by new poets, obscure
poets, or poets who generally write in other genres as well as poetry written by
well-known authors, which has been written for friends or family and which has
not appeared in view of the general public.
A newcomer to the Internet haiku community, Rob
Mestre is not entirely new to poetry nor the genre of haiku. Raised as a
Buddhist by his American father and Japanese step-mother, his personal
philosophy and perspective on life stems from his upbringing. He is a sensitive
soul who learned about haiku as a boy from his step-mother. With his parents, he
visited Japan on numerous occasions, and is familiar with the traditions,
customs and ways of thought.
Rob now writes haiku about his young children,
his wife, his relatives, his surroundings in the semi-tropical climate of
Orlando, Florida, with its long, hot season. This poet's "cardinal
rule" about haiku composition is that the writer should stay true to the
image. He feels that it is the simplicity in most images is what makes them
beautiful, for example: the red of a rose, the softness of its petals, morning
dew or rain on the petals and leaves, the fragrance. He cites, "from that
image alone thousands of haiku have been written."
On his foundation for writing haiku, Rob says:
I think a haiku should be written as a
description to one who is blind. If one has no sight, then you must describe
that image in it's truest form. No embellishments, no understatements. Just what
you experience via any sense in it's purity, plain and simple.
Think about what it was that made you want to
write about the image; that is what the blind person would want to know.
The World Haiku Club and its editors of World
Haiku Review Online are pleased to present a sampling of Rob Mestre's haiku:
morning dew
the sunrise reflecting
off everything
fall
replacing summer
leaf by leaf
Higan-e
with each passing streetlamp
shadows fall behind
blizzard snow-in—
my dog licks through the
scowl on my face
my child
shows me my portrait—
every crayon broke
airport—
my son waves at
an empty plane
your funeral—
this flower and my heart
both drop
my anger—
beat into the dirt
atop your grave
Great-Grandfather
I clear your grave of snow
with tears
spring planting—
my son burying
a candy corn
spring fling—
ignoring her watch
she asks him the time
spring storm—
my neighbors sprinkler
is running
singing birds—
I whistle back as if
they understand
rainforest
amidst the bird calls
chainsaws
Mothers Day
beautiful bouquet
of weeds
summer clouds—
in the dissipating puddle
one tadpole remains
summer life—
a chameleon darkens
with the shadows
midsummer's day
the air is so hot
cicadas cry
midday sun—
hot and dry
yet I'm so wet
summer job—
my dripping sweat
dilutes the paint
summer wade—
curling sand between my toes
fish nipping at my legs
sun bathing—
digging my feet deeper
into the cool sand
seafood restaurant—
my son wants to take
home a lobster
blistering heat
and this thunderstorm
drops ice
yesterdays rain
greets the sun within
a cloud of steam
all alone—
I jump into
the puddle
summer floods
a cricket floats by
on a coke can
Notes: Higan-e is a Buddhist ceremony to honor
ancestors and to come together to chant the nembutsu. At this time, families
visit their family graves and also gather at the temple for a communal ceremony
Robert John Mestre and Robert Wilson are the
Managing Editors of the poetry magazine, Simply
Haiku, and owners of the YahooGroups mailing
list by the same name. Robert Mestre is an award winning web
designer, and has been writing poetry of all forms for over twenty years. He
has been published in various journals, the most recent being Serge Tomé's tempslibres
- free times. Robert resides in Orlando, Florida with his wife and children.
