Four haiku by Kelly Houle appeared in Issue 30 and can be read here.
We’d all love to hear more about these haiku.
I had been writing the poem about the seed pods breaking open and hitting the door for about ten years. It was hilarious to me to hear that sound and then be peeking out the window to try to see who was throwing what at the window and then realizing that it was mesquite pods randomly popping open and winging these little seeds at the front door and window. It used to be a much longer poem. When I began to think about it as a proper haiku, the image of the neighbor and the mesquite tree merged into one and the poem finally had just enough humor and humanity packed into that one tiny incident. I was so happy when that happened.
What was the most difficult part of this particular set?
Most of these small pieces were born out of a distressing time for me. I was looking for a way to write about loss and sleeplessness. It took some time to step back and let charged emotions settle. The most difficult part, aside from the feelings that led to them, was having the patience to set the poems aside for a while so I could return to them with a clearer mind.
Recommend a book for us which was published within the last decade.
One book of poetry that rises to the top for me is Eavan Boland’s A Woman Without A Country, which I was reading when she died earlier this year. I also recommend her memoir A Journey with Two Maps. Stunning, both.
If you could have a drink with any living author, who would it be? Why?
It would have to be Kay Ryan. I feel a strong connection with her. She would not really want to do this, though, so I imagine we would each do a shot, then cheers, I love your work, thanks and then we’d each go back to our homes as quickly as possible. We’re a lot alike in that way. She’s one of those writers I can be in conversation with just by reading her poems and essays about poetry published recently in Synthesizing Gravity. I’m very happy sitting at home with one of her books sipping whatever. Cheers, Kay!
What are you working on now? What’s next?
I’m working on my first book of poetry.
Our thanks to Kelly for taking the time to answer a few questions and share her haiku. Read Houle’s poetry here: https://www.sequestrum.org/four-haiku-by-kelly-houle.
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Kelly Houle’s poems have appeared in Crab Orchard Review, The Meadow, Radar Poetry, Red Rock Review, The Round, Visitant, and others. She has an MFA in creative writing from Arizona State University, where she received a Virginia G. Piper Summer Creative Writing Fellowship. Kelly is also a visual artist.