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You might well be haikued off with Japanese poetry by this stage. The art form is everywhere – if you don't believe me, go and see the latest instalment of the Transformers franchise and listen as one of the Autobots recites a haiku between battling the baddies. Where does that leave the genre? Gabriel Rosenstock's latest book, Haiku más é do thoil é! (Haiku If You Please), is as far away from Michael Bay's blockbuster as you can imagine. Thankfully, the page does trump the screen, and readers young and old will find much of value in the book. Rosenstock, who is an occasional contributor to this newpaper's Irish columns, begins his journey with the haiku master Issa, giving some fine examples of his work and that of other practitioners. Rosenstock also includes some of his own haikus in Irish, just to show that the form is a living one. It is a book that is easy to read and that gives great enjoyment. It is amazing what you can do with three lines, 17 syllables and a little imagination.
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