Haiku of Hawaii

Book excerpt: This classic collection of Japanese haiku focuses on the beautiful Hawaiian Islands. Poetry is the voice of man's humanity. It that special art form, that private vocabulary, in which the writer speaks to the reader of things they both have known and dreamed together. The seventeen syllables haiku, the most imagistic of all literary art forms of Japanese culture, was used by Mrs. Morrow to express her feelings, longings, and joys. As the Japanese make up the largest single ethnic group in Hawaii, it is their eyes Mrs. Morrow has borrowed to look at these beautiful islands. Many brush style illustrations, both delicate and bold, by Suno Hironaka accompany poems.