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Jacob Salzer conducts haiku poet interviews and here were my responses to questions
he asked:
https://haikupoetinterviews.wordpress.com/2022/08/01/tom-clausen/
30 Tuesday May 2023
Tags
Jacob Salzer conducts haiku poet interviews and here were my responses to questions
he asked:
https://haikupoetinterviews.wordpress.com/2022/08/01/tom-clausen/
29 Monday May 2023
Posted haiku, Haiku Circle, nature, photos, Readings, spring, Tom Clausen biographical info
inTags
Tom Clausen (www.tomclausen.com) is a life-long Ithacan living in the same house he grew up in with his wife, Berta. He became interested in haiku and related short forms of poetry in the late 1980s after reading an article that profiled Ruth Yarrow’s haiku. There was instant recognition that haiku was a form that might help with his tendency of wordiness, repetition, and overstatement. He has been reading and writing haiku, senryu, tanka, and little poems ever since. Tom is the curator of a daily online haiku feature at Mann Library, Cornell University, where he worked for over 35 years before retiring in 2013. In 2003, Tom was invited to join the Route 9 Haiku group. The group publishes a journal twice a year, Dim Sum, featuring selected work by members John Stevenson, Hilary Tann, Mary Stevens, Yu Chang, Tom Clausen, and a guest poet, as well as haiga by Romanian artist and poet Ion Codrescu. Tom enjoys walking, biking, photography, music and simply observing and documenting what there is to be found. He especially cares for cats and deer. |
26 Friday May 2023
sidewalk sale-
wind twists a lifetime
guarantee tag
Woodnotes
***
taking me back…
water laps gently
at the shore
Dim Sum
***
our turn
to stand here-
falls overlook
Frogpond
***
mountain brook-
the indistinguishable spring
of voices
Mayfly
***
in the garden
sitting alone-
who i am now
Dim Sum
***
in the dark
through the window light
my wife and child
Modern Haiku
***
daybreak-
the spider centered
in its web
Dim Sum
***
long wait alone
in the parking lot…
a dog in the next car
Raw Nervz
***
on the way home
more geese
on the way home
Frogpond
***
returning the water
from the vase
to the flower garden
Dim Sum
***
letting her
walk all over me
– ladybug
bottle rockets
***
potluck luncheon
a yellow jacket cleans
its antennae
Dim Sum
***
the cat’s eyes
so wide…
for a gnat
HN 2001 Members Anthology
***
undefended:
in the cold raiN
their snow fort
Frogpond
***
the way
rain takes
the mountain
Frogpond
***
Ducks riding the lake
brushed rough by wind;
pilings rimed with ice
Modern Haiku 1988
***
mountaintop:
giving back
each breath
Brussels Sprout v.XI : no.1 Jan. 1994
***
lunch alone
without a book
i read my mind
Brussels Sprout v.XI : no.1 Jan. 1994
***
rushing
to the zendo to sit
still
Brussels Sprout v.XI : no.2 May 1994
***
daybreak-
rubber duck alone
in the empty tub
Haiku Quarterly summer 1994
***
on the trail again…
walking deeper
into myself
Frogpond summer 1994
***
autumn moonlight
folded in
the clothes on the floor
Modern Haiku summer 1994
***
the way
the light bulb rests
in the rest of the trash
Modern Haiku fall 1994
***
day break-
from the bread truck’s roof
frost swirls
Woodnotes #25
***
one tree
one bird, one song
the dusk
Frogpond 1995
***
x-ray room
they remove
her crucifix
Modern Haiku fall 1995
***
alone in the waiting room
checking the plant
for reality
Woodnotes 1996
https://livinghaikuanthology.com/index-of-poets/213-c-poets/134-tom-clausen.html
25 Thursday May 2023
Posted haiku, Haiku Way of Life, Interviews, Tom Clausen biographical info
inTags
19 Friday May 2023
Global Haiku Tradition
Millikin University, PACE Summer 2003
I picked Tom Clausen as my essay subject. I really like Tom’s haiku, they are very real and easy to understand and see the message he is portraying. He writes about events or moments that probably happen to most of us, but we just don’t realize it. Most of us, including myself, are so busy rushing around; we don’t stop to ‘smell the roses’. Tom’s haiku let me do just that. Reading some of them I thought to myself, ‘oh yeah I never realized that’. It was great. Tom has a way of capturing all the little events in life.
Tom Clausen grew up in Ithaca, New York. He works at his alma mater (1969-1973), Cornell University in the library. Before settling down with a family, Tom traveled Central and North America for 10 years. He did this by bicycle, bus, canoe, trains, cars, and by foot. Tom had always loved to write, but after having two children, he didn’t have the time to write as much and that is when he turned to haiku. He has published three chapbooks “Autumn Wind In the Cracks” (1994), “Unraked Leaves” (1995), “A Work of Love” (1997), and “Standing Here” (1998).
I have chosen nine of my favorite, and discussed why I like them and what they mean to me.
park twilight—
a light comes on
by itself
I like this one because I can just feel myself there alone, deep in thought, not noticing anything around me, and suddenly the park light comes on and you realize you have been there for quite awhile. Maybe even what I was in such deep thought about, finally becomes clear and I have and answer or understanding to the problem at hand. The light could represent the light going off in your head and you are say, “oh-yeah”.
standing here
at this window, remembering mother
standing here
This one is quite sad because he is remembering his mother who probably stood at that window many, many times. Maybe it is the kitchen window in her house and now she has passed on. This could be right after the funeral and he goes back to the house and is remembering all the things mother did. I have done this before when my daughter is at her dad’s house for the weekend. I am missing her so I will go sit on her bed and replay some of things she does in her room and it makes me smile. Hopefully this guy was smiling from happy memories of his mother standing there.
on the trail again . . .
walking deeper
into myself
This one is probably my favorite. I love going hiking in the woods; the smells, the sounds, the peaceful serenity of it. Even when I am with someone I find myself going into deep thought, and the more I walk the deeper in thought I go. Walking in the woods is very meditating for me. I find myself thinking of all kinds of things. Relationships, or what I want to do with my life. It’s great. I can just feel the coolness of the shade and the sunlight peeking through the trees every now and then. I can feel the bumpiness of the trail and having to concentrate on where I am walking or I will probably trip on a tree root and fall on my face. I can hear the birds singing and talking to each other, and something crackling in the leaves on the ground. I get nervous because I don’t know what or who is out there, but then it stops and I go on my merry way again. I feel as if summer is almost over and fall will soon begin because I can see the leaves turning colors slightly. Tom puts me in such peaceful mood reading this one. Good job Tom!
one tree
on bird, one song
the dusk
This one gives me the feeling of spring. The days are getting later and the birds are coming out and it is getting warmer. I can just hear the one bird singing his favorite song to me as the sun is going down. Maybe the bird is looking for a mate? I can see this being a pretty bird like a yellow finch, or a bright red cardinal. His brilliant colors making him stick on in this tree. After thinking about this one, I realized you usually only hear one bird at a time. I have a tree right outside my bedroom window and one bird usually serenades me. Only the bird is loud and doesn’t have a very pretty song to sing me at 6:00 in the morning. Tom gives me a sense of peace with this haiku also. I like the way he stops to notice the little things and to let his readers go there with him.
reading her letter—
suddenly aware of the look
on my face
I really like this one also. It paints a very vivid picture in my mind of a man reading a “Dear John” letter and his mouth is wide open with shock and despair that she is leaving him. He probably is rereading that one line over again that put that look on his face and then he thinks about it and realizes that he mouth is wide open and he hasn’t blinked for a minute. He shakes off the initial shock and then starts rereading again. I have done this people watching before, where I find myself staring at someone and then realizing my mouth is wide open, so I look around to see if anyone saw me and then I shake it off and try not to stare again. I get the feeling this is not a good newsletter and I feel sorry for the man reading it. He probably has to sit down to stop his knees giving out on him. I get the feeling his life is going to change drastically and that although sometimes that is good, I am not getting that feeling here.
back at the office
after sick leave—
watering her plant
This one is my office. If I were gone for a while, I would be lucky if my co-workers even noticed I was gone let alone water my plant. I don’t have any plants at work, but if I did they would be dead by the time I got back. This haiku made me chuckle. I can just picture this poor women coming back and the last thing she wants to see is her poor plant dying even though there is a sea of people around, no one was thoughtful enough to take care of her plant. Just goes to show that people are inconsiderate. I hope I am not this person and would water someone’s plant if they were gone.
twilight
the only car ahead
turns off
I picture this one as someone driving a long time to go see a loved one maybe and it is getting dark and they are in the middle of nowhere on a highway. They have been following this car for quite a ways and then this person has finally reached their destination and gets off and the driver of this car now is all by themselves; wishing they were at their destination. It is a very lonely haiku and we probably all know how this driver feels to be the only person on the road, just you and your thoughts. I do like this haiku though. It reminds me of when I drive the 5 hours to go see my mom and dad. It is light when I leave here and dark when I get there. By the time it hits twilight, I am ready to be out of the car and with my family.
a child standing guard
over a last little bit
of snow
This haiku reminds me of me when I was a kid and it had snowed and spring was coming so you knew this could be the last snow of the season. The sun is out and the snow is melting and this could be the snowman that was made and now the last of him is about to melt away. It represents to me a changing of the seasons, a long cold winter is turning into spring. I like this haiku because it has such an innocence to it. Like the child looking at the snow doesn’t realize that the snow will once again come next year. The child is probably sad that the snow is leaving us for warmer weather.
waiting to see
the odometer’s big change . . .
missed it!
I really like this haiku, it cracks me up because it is so true. I have done this many times before and have missed the big change and then I have to wait for the next big change. I don’t even notice how many miles are on my car, and then one day I will notice that I am close to another 10,000 miles, but then will forget to look again and the next time I look it will be over. I like this haiku because it tells me that I am not the only one who notices these little things in life.
Tom’s haiku have such an insight into everyday life. Most of us just go through the day without stopping to smell the roses, but Tom points these little things out, and it makes me stop to think about these little things of life. That is what I like. I have noticed since taking this class that I try and take notice of the little things that happen during the day, just to see if I can make a haiku about my day. I think that is what Tom has done, and I want to thank him for reminding me that it is the little things in life that are important.
—Michelle Ground
17 Wednesday May 2023
18 Saturday Jun 2022
Posted haiku, Modern Haiku, Published Poems, senryu, Tom Clausen biographical info
inAlso living in New York state, but tending to write haiku about more cheerful, domestic scenes, is Tom Clausen. Though he treats the ups and downs of marriage and being a parent, his experience seems to have been that the ups seem to make up for the downs. He first learned of haiku in the early 1980s when a friend gave him the “Autumn” book of R.H. Blyth’s four-volume Haiku. Though he was interested, he did not seriously take up the genre until 1988, after he read an article about Ruth Yarrow, who was then living in Ithaca, N.Y.
Clausen has lived almost all his life in Ithaca. He was born there on August 1, 1951, and lives there now, in his childhood home with his wife and two children (and two cats). He writes that his parents encouraged him to keep a journal at a very young age. By the time he went to college he was “well into the habit of writing to record experiences and to find expression for thoughts and feelings in solitude.” After college (Cornell University, 1973) he took a series of bicycle trips in North and Central America and helped develop his literary skills by writing letters about his experiences on the road. By 1980 he had begun to write what he “hoped were poems.”
Many of Clausen’s haiku are about his family and his relationships with his children and his wife. This emphasis may show Yarrow’s influence on his work. Here is a senryu about his daughter and another about his wife and cat, which presumably refers to something the poet has said (or it could be understood as a small child mimicking an adult):
after speaking importantly
she quickly resumes
sucking her thumbto the cat
“that’s complete and
utter nonsense”
Clausen writes,
Haiku has consistently appealed to me as a means of centering, focusing, sharing, and responding to a life and world bent on excess. As the layers of my own life have accumulated, I’ve often felt overwhelmed by both personal changes and the mass of news, information, and survival requirements that come with being human these days. Haiku are for me a means of honoring and celebrating simple yet profound relationships that awaken in us, with a gentle and silent inner touch, a spiritual relevance that adds meaning to our lives.
He, too, has practiced Zen meditation and looks on haiku as a tool for “spiritual tuning and guidance, shining light on the way we go.”
Clausen joined the Haiku Society of America and Haiku Canada in 1988. He sometimes attends HSA meetings in New York City where he has had contact with such poets as Stevenson, Dee Evetts, and L.A. Davidson. He has self-published three small chapbooks of his haiku, in 1994, 1995, and 1998. A collection of his tanka, A Work of Love, was published in 1997 by Tiny Poems Press. In 2000 Snapshot Press in England published Homework, a book of his haiku. It was a small collection about, once again, family life. Clausen also writes haiku with a more traditional focus on nature. Here are two: the first one has a very strong sense of sabi and the second shows a bonding with the world of wild nature—and more sabi.
twilight
the only car ahead
turns offsnow flurrying . . .
the deer, one by one, look back
before they vanish
excerpt from an essay in Modern Haiku- “American Haiku’s Future” by Cor van den Heuvel
Modern Haiku v. 34: no.3 2003 Autumn
17 Friday Jun 2022
Posted haiku, Readings, senryu, Tom Clausen biographical info
inTags
Tom Clausen (Ithaca, NY) is a life-long Ithacan living in the same house he grew up in. He became interested in haiku and related short forms of poetry in the late 1980s after reading an article about naturalist Ruth Yarrow, profiling her haiku. There was instant recognition that haiku was a form that might help with his tendency with wordiness, repetition, and overstatement. He has been reading and trying to write haiku, senryu, tanka, and haibun since then. Tom is the curator of a daily haiku feature, online, at Mann Library, Cornell University where he worked for more than 35 years before retiring in 2013. In 2003, Tom was invited to join the Route 9 Haiku group that formed in 2001. The group publishes a twice-yearly journal, Dim Sum, featuring selected work by members John Stevenson, Hilary Tann, Yu Chang, Tom Clausen and a guest poet as well as a couple of haiga by Romanian artist and poet Ion Codrescu. Tom has several books published including Growing Late and Homework from Snap Shot Press in UK and most recently Laughing To Myself from Free Food Press. Tom enjoys walking, biking, photography and simply going about observing and documenting moments, beauty and wabi sabi all around us. Website: www.tomclausen.com.
16 Thursday Jun 2022
Laughing To Myself
A collection of haiku and senryu by Tom Clausen, a favorite poet of many readers of haiku. Tom has been writing haiku for over twenty years and has enchanted readers with his very personal outlook on family, nature and living in this modern world. Tom opens his heart so that those who read his poems not only feel like they know him, but because his poems touch a universal chord readers also feel like they know themselves a bit better too.
before sleep
laughing to myself
at myself
Since 1989, when Tom Clausen first came onto the haiku scene, he has been in the forefront of English language haiku, senryu, haibun and tanka. Tom was a pioneer in the haiku movement that let haiku not only roam through the natural world, but let it into our cities, homes, and all other aspects of our modern world. No other haiku poet has so openly let the reader into his life and into his heart. Tom, while retaining his individual voice, manages to convey the aspiration and angst of all of us who live in this modern world and does so with a wry and whimsical smile. This collection which spans the entire 24 years of Tom’s insightful, honest and often humorous poetry will give those who know Tom’s work a chance to revisit old favorites and find gems they might haves missed and give those less familiar with Tom’s work a chance to see why he is one of the most influential haiku and senryu poets of his generation.
bitter wind-
we circle our candles
for peace
Review by Alan Summers
16 Thursday Jun 2022
Posted haibun, Tom Clausen biographical info
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about haibun :
“Whether we think of our life as special or not, in the flow of experience come special moments that punctuate our sensibility and memory. Haibun are records and renderings of our passage through life, and an attempt to distill the highlights of our very diverse experiences. The poem that typically concludes the haibun ought to reflect the heart of our inner understanding of outward experience.”
Tom Clausen was born in Ithaca, New York, in 1951 and continues to be a resident of this isolated finger lakes college town. Today, Tom shares the same house he grew up in with Berta and their two children, Casey and Emma. Tom has worked for more than twenty years at Cornell University in the Mann Library where he coordinates the staff and student assistants in the document services–circulation department. Tom graduated from Cornell in 1973 and after several years of bicycle trip adventures, he settled back where he started. His books include Autumn Wind in the Cracks, Unraked Leaves, and Standing Here (1994, 1995, 1998; all self-published) and A Work of Love (Tiny Poems Press, 1997).