haiku Emily! is the result of a haiku poet's fascination with Emily Dickinson. Convinced that the elements of haiku could complement the hymnal lyric style of Emily Dickinson's poetry (both often relate nature to human nature, and even to the very nature of human existence), Everett Decker devoted a year to creating 1,789 haiku-influenced poems based on Dickinson's 1,789 poems, in the process distilling the best of both poetry worlds.
This book commemorates the 125th anniversary of Emily Dickinson's death with 125 outstanding examples of this innovative work. Using the brevity and simple language of haiku, Decker has translated Dickinson's verse into accessible, haiku-inflected poetry that reaches new depth when read in concert with the Dickinson originals that inspired them.
"An amazing, brilliant body of work. Sometimes Everett Decker unlocks obscure Dickinson poems, sometimes he clarifies one, and sometimes he creates something entirely new. In reading both his work and Dickinson's together, I found most of the 'haiku' successful standing alone, yet the engagement with both poets made them most meaningful to me. haiku Emily! is fascinating-a true labor of love."
Polly Longsworth,
author of The World of Emily Dickinson
