Frogpond 32.2 • Summer 2009 (pdf) - Haiku Society of America

We studied the latest haiku journals, discussing the essaysand poems. We wrote some renga together. Weshared poems of others we loved, and sometimes offereda draft of a haiku we were pulling together to get a candidresponse. She sent me home with rare poetic treasures tostudy, classic out-of-print books and volumes of the firsthaiku journals. Little by little she was shaping me withoutintention or goal. I learned to trust my muse because of her.She had become a mentor. To think of herself as a mentor wouldhave amazed her. Free-spirited, intuitive, and generous, sheshared her genius with me, as well as with hundreds of other poetsin her long and productive life. Elizabeth Lamb was unique,and remains to this day, my idea of the quintessential editor.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .42 Haiku Society of America