For over forty years, Dennis Herrell has been writing both serious and humorous poems about his life in this civilized society. He finds his poems by keeping his eyes and ears open and his mouth shut. Mostly. He really likes to write short poems that are like verbal snapshots or vignettes of the marvelous world around us.. Dennis developed his appreciation of haiku many years ago in Japan. And now, Dennis offers his readers a sampling of traditional and modern haiku with "A Treasury of Collected Haiku". He especially likes haiku, with its 3-line, condensed view of nature and life, and has published over 150 haiku so far. Traditional Japanese haiku was originally (and for many decades) very strict with its structure and content, but now new forms and styles are very popular. The senryu variation follows the basic 5-7-5 structure, but also allows the involvement and comments of human nature in the short 3-line poem, sometimes in an ironic or satiric vein. Dennis hopes that his enjoyment of haiku comes across in a pleasurable way for you.
Dennis Herrell was a teacher, a sporting goods wholesaler, a gift/card wholesaler, and antique dealer. He is now retired. His writing life began in college, and continued off and on during his working years. Dennis lives in Texas, a big, diverse land of desert, mountains, hills and valleys, meadows, prairies, rivers, lakes, and salt water bays and beaches. He calls the almost sub-tropical city of Houston his home. Dennis loves his 1920's bungalow in the old historical Heights district of Houston, and finds that it is the perfect setting for putting his ideas into poetry.