Peace and War: A Collection of Haiku from Israel, by Rick Black

Personal Note

I lived and worked in Israel for six years, including three years as a reporter in the Jerusalem bureau of The New York Times. But I never felt like I was able to capture the essence of the country, its paradoxes and contradictions, in my reportage.

In 1991, upon my return to the U.S., I rediscovered haiku and realized that I had stumbled upon a form that I could use to write about Israel in a way that I had always wanted.

In this collection, Peace and War: A Collection of Haiku From Israel, I try to convey the stark images of Israel’s landscape—images of peace and war, of hope and fear—and the way in which they blend together. I found haiku hiding almost everywhere like thistles emerging from rocky outcroppings.

In a way, though, I have always struggled to reconcile haiku’s non-judgmental, Zen-like approach to life with my own deep-seated need to protest against life’s injustices. I have an ongoing argument with God about the world’s imperfections. Simply to accept the world as it is, as Zen philosophy requires, does not come naturally to me, especially when I am in a country at war.

So, these haiku are both a protest against war and an attempt to live with the paradoxes of life in Israel. By writing these poems, I have tried to put aside my protest for a little while and to savor life in all its mystery. I hope that they will help provide a glimpse into the “inner” life of the country and in some small way inspire hope in a region that is so in need of it.