THE HAY(NA)KU IS EVEN GOOD FOR YOUR COMPLEXION!

It's such a kick to start reading books, including single-author poetry books, that incorporate the hay(na)ku form organically into the collections. My most recent experience in this -- and it is HIGHLY RECOMMENDED, as they say -- is Thomas Fink's new book, CLARITY AND OTHER POEMS (Marsh Hawk Press, 2008). Tom's book features a number of forms, not just the hay(na)ku -- or rather two variations of the hay(na)ku, as explained by this in the book's NOTES section:

The "Mayan Hay(na)ku" is a variation devised by Maya Mason Fink, and I devised the 'Hay(na)ku Exfoliation" variation.

Maya is Tom's teen daughter; I'm always delighted when young uns access poetry through the hay(na)ku! And Maya's variation is actually not easy: it's the hay(na)ku where the lines are not just one word, two words, then three words....but the first line is a one-letter word, the second line are two-letter words, and the third line are three-letter words, such as in this

X
is an
and. Sly. Bus?

And here's a sample of Tom's well-complexioned hay(na)ku, an excerpt from "HAY(NA)KU EXFOLIATION 8":

Mirror
shoes cut.
Sublime outfits all
over have
cooperated to give
waste a good, slim

face. It's midnight,
bitch: whenever major boots
erupt, let earth apologize...

*****

Speaking of hay(na)ku, my "The Hay(na)ku of Numbers" is part of the new INERTIA Magazine. Thanks to editor Rich Murphy for including my poem, which is actually the first hay(na)ku I wrote in which I felt (rightly or wrongly) that, finally, I get this form...

*****

Last but not least, this Thursday, Jan. 31, is the deadline for participating in THE CHAINED HAY(NA)KU Project! Details HERE.