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Special Feature 7—Neon Buddha Poems

Neon Buddha Poems: A Selection
by Michael Dylan Welch

— September 15, 2010 —

denied for a payday loan neon buddha
		not for sale at Home Depot neon buddha
power outage the neon buddha loses his smile
		class reunion the neon buddha has a crooked tie
father-daughter dance the neon buddha sits one out
		the neon buddha learns to play Stairway to Heaven
	honking because he loves Jesus neon buddha

Author's Statement

A friend once asked me where the neon buddha came from. In reply, I almost said Toledo. More accurately, he's an avatar—sometimes a surrogate for me and what I've done or would like to do, both ordinary and extraordinary, and sometimes an everyman who's definitely not me. The neon buddha is also like the Travelocity garden gnome—a little naive or overwhelmed by the world, but always game for adventure. And perhaps he’s like R. Crumb’s Mr. Natural—an underground sage who likes to have fun and can’t resist a double meaning. I’ve written many hundreds of these haiku-like poems, which have unfolded as a surreal sort of personal mythology.

Michael Dylan Welch

Michael Dylan Welch has written haiku since 1976. He's currently serving as vice president of the Haiku Society of America, cofounded Haiku North America in 1991 and the American Haiku Archives in 1996, and founded the Tanka Society of America in 2000. He is editor/publisher of Tundra: The Journal of the Short Poem (since 1997) and of Press Here haiku and tanka books (since 1989). He previously edited Woodnotes (1989–1997). Michael's haiku and longer poems have appeared in hundreds of journals and anthologies in fourteen languages, and he's won first prize in the Henderson, Brady, Drevniok, and Tokutomi contests. In 2010 he was selected for the Jack Straw Writers Program. He lives near Seattle, Washington, and his website is titled Graceguts.

Past Special Features

• Special Feature 8—Translating the Four Seasons by Antonella Filippi
• Special Feature 7—Neon Buddha Poems by Michael Dylan Welch
• Special Feature 6—An Unsuspecting Lump of Clay by Angela Kublik
• Special Feature 5—Modern English Language Haibun by Ray Rasmussen
• Special Feature 4—Experiments by Barwin, Beaulieu, and Robson
• Special Feature 3—Summer Review Special by Patrick M. Pilarski
• Special Feature 2—Even when we were crazy with love... by Mary Pinkoski
• Special Feature 1—Transitions by Linda Pilarski

"What is a special feature?" you may ask. The DailyHaiku special features section is dedicated to innovative collections of haiku and related forms that work very well as a thematic unit, bring the reader a new perspective on the form, explore the seasonal nature of haiku, or push the bounds of haiku in novel directions. Special features will be posted throughout each year (usually as a surprise) and will also be included in the yearly print edition.