Jean Rasey 1925-2010 haiku poet and good friend

Jean Rasey  (1925-2010)

Much loved Aussie haiku poet Jean Rasey passed away early Sunday morning 5^th December; she will be sorely missed by so many of us.

Jean’s Austalian Haiku Society biography states she became interested in haiku when hosting a Japanese exchange student in 1979/80. When Paper Wasp formed in 1994 it was the beginning of a rewarding participation in this succinct and evocative form of poetry.

We became close haiku friends via the hugely popular Osaka, Japan based Azami magazine.  After Azami’s editor’s demise, we carried on sporadically via other magazines and email including her wonderful book "easy with the ebb" :

http://www.postpressed.com.au/index.html?verse/ebb.html

 "Jean Rasey ...writes haiku of pure deliquescence... they melt in the mouth, leaving a delicate after taste of mono no aware, "an empathy to things"... There is a simplicity that skirts plainness or sentiment... When you read her haiku you may well find yourself holding your breath with hers..."

Alan Summers — With Words

 

This book has become a With Words recommended book for all our students.

"Long have I waited for sincerity. And here it is from far across the ocean, laden with the truth of why we write and why we live!"   vincent tripi — Summer 2007

Here are just a few of her haiku over the years:

first flush of dawn

down river a lone oarsman

easy with the ebb

Finalist, Seventh Annual Jack Stamm Paper Wasp Haiku Contest (2005)

moonrise

shadow to deeper shadow

the whisper of wings

Finalist, Seventh Annual Jack Stamm Paper Wasp Haiku Contest (2005)

night rain

I snuggle deeper

into the sound

"A poem Presence readers acknowledged as one of the world's best"  H F 'Tom' Noyes

This one published in the British Haiku Society’s Blithe Spirit magazine:

all night the rainbird
not until midday
a rumble of thunder

Blithe Spirit Vol 12 No 1 (2002)