Because haiku demands a fresh creative response to each new situation, and because it places images before ideas, haiku is guarded from becoming a religion. Rather, haiku is a spiritual path ...

back from the mountains

a yellow handrail guides me

down the subway stairs

A haiku is a poem arranged in three lines of five, seven, and five syllables, a "sketch of life" that goes to the heart of what it means to be alive. A single moment -- the length of a breath -- nevertheless its practice can last a lifetime. A beautiful, literary book about writing haiku, written in the simple spirit of haiku, Strand's Seeds from a Birch Tree is divided into three parts: "The Way of Haiku", "The Haiku Mind", and "The Narrow Road". A renowned haiku teacher, Clark Strand teaches readers to compose their own haiku using simple exercises, inspirations, and examples of haiku written by beginners and great masters.

Published in paperback to coincide with Strand's new hardcover, The Wooden Bowl, Seeds from a Birch Tree is a revelatory book from an extraordinary teacher.