Lessons from the Ocean

A graphic haibun

Hello, Fellow Watchers!

Today’s post is a format I’m calling graphic haibun. I’m sure someone else has tried this before, but I haven’t been able to find any examples. A haibun is a slippery concept related to haiku.

Typically, a haibun is a short lyrical essay built around or based on one or more haiku. Sometimes a haibun will include a haiga. A haiga is a traditional Japanese landscape painting that contains a haiku related to the art. In the Japanese (and Chinese) tradition, calligraphy and brush painting are more than just complementary disciplines; they are different levels of the same discipline.

I consider my haiku comics to be a modern adaptation of haiga. It seems natural for me to make some graphic haibun. Unless this is the first time you’ve ever read anything by me (and if it is: Greetings, Salutations, and Welcome!), you know I’m obsessed with all things haiku. I also love literary comics (I love all comics and cartoons, but I love the idea of mashing up non-superhero, written-for-grown-ups “literary” projects with beautiful visual art more than anything).

On January 2nd, Portland-based artist and author Amy Stewart wrote about the concept of “githerments.”

Gather Your Githerments!

Haiku, poetry comics, memoir, personal essays, and collage are some of my githerments—my obsessions and bits.

I’ve always thought of the Weirdo Poetry newsletter as a kind of digital sketchbook, a place where I share the thoughts and work that eventually make it into my books.

Now, thanks to Amy, I have a more whimsical way to describe this newsletter. It’s my githerments collection.

I am gearing up for a season of greatly increased output. While I have been sending out one newsletter a week for the past couple of months, starting this week, I will post more frequently. Most newsletters will be short, with just a poem or a poetry comic or a loose collection of thoughts. At least twice a week, I will be sending something more substantial, something like this graphic haibun or a personal essay.

If you want to see my first effort at a graphic haibun, although I didn’t call it that back then, you can read this post from 2024:

A Gash in the Sky

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And now, on with the show!

Thanks for reading!

All of the haiku comics in this graphic haibun were adapted from comics appearing in my book Wild Divinity, except the haiku comic, Have You Even Lived, which is from my book Haiku Comics from the Anthropocene, and the comic, I Stare at the Sea, which first appeared in my zine, I Stare at the Sea.

Be the weird you want to see in the world!

Cheers,