Haiku for the Road

By Stephen Holton

Stephen Holton is an Episcopal priest who lives and works in the Hudson Valley region of New York. One day during morning prayer, he found himself arranging words "like puzzle pieces" in the traditional syllabic structure of Japanese haiku. Creating these simple three-line poems turned into a daily ritual-Holton's way of capturing and exploring

• Language: English
• Publisher: Rivertowns Books
• Release date: Apr 13, 2021
• ISBN: 9781953943026

Stephen Holton

Stephen Holton is an Episcopal priest who lives and works in the Hudson Valley region of New York. The son of a U.S. diplomat, Holton grew up in six different countries with his parents, his brother, and his sister. In 1989, Holton was ordained to the Episcopal priesthood, and also was married to his wife Charlotte. In the years since then, with their sons, they've lived and served in several different parishes-one a long-term position as rector of Saint Paul's on the Hill Episcopal Church in Ossining, New York, and a number of interim and associate positions, also in the Hudson Valley. In 2013, Holton earned a Master's degree in sacred theology from the General Theological Seminary in New York City. Based on his deepening understanding of the connections among worship, music, and human connection, he formed a group called Warriors of the Dream in Harlem, which used drumming as a vehicle for stimulating sacred conversation centered on Dr. Martin Luther King's dream of the beloved community. Today, Holton's work draws on partnerships among friends of many faiths, from which he derives a rich sense of spiritual nourishment.

Book preview

Copyright © 2021 by Stephen Holton. All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping, or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

Photos on pages 9, 43, 61, and 79 by Stephen Holton.

ISBN-13: 978-1-7339141-9-2

ISBN-13: 978-1-9539430-2-6 (e-book)

LCCN Imprint Name: Rivertowns Books

Rivertowns Books are available online from Amazon as well as from bookstores and other retailers. Requests for information and other correspondence may be addressed to:

Rivertowns Books

240 Locust Lane

Irvington NY 10533

Email: [e-mail]

For my two grandfathers,

Werner Hans Bloch and Caryl Ames Holton

Haiku for the road:

a communion of words

for other travelers.

Contents

Introduction

Editor’s Note

2020

2019

2017–2018

2013–2017

About the Author

Introduction

EACH MORNING AFTER WAKING, I sit down for a cup of coffee out on my deck or by an open window, and then, when sufficiently awake, settle into the silence and my morning meditation.

One day in 2013, in the middle of my morning prayer, words came into my head, suggested by creation all around, by the words upon my heart, and perhaps from a deeper source within every heart. I arranged them like puzzle pieces into a haiku format, an easy way to remember them, an elegant way to transmit them.

Since then, I have written almost three thousand haiku. They are like seventeen-piece puzzles arranged in three rows of five, seven, five. I put them in the package of a Facebook post for anyone to open.

Some are what I think of as morning prayer haiku—MPH for short—that get me up to speed. These frame my day and provide