Explore the simple allure of haikus from ancient and modern masters like Matsuo Basho to Jack Kerouac in Haiku Mind: 108 Poems to Cultivate Awareness and Open Your Heart via Shambhala Publishing, $18.00. Prized for profound expression of the naked moment, haiku writing requires meditative awareness to elucidate the extraordinary in the ordinary.

Author Patricia Donegan, who taught poetry at Naropa University during the reign of Allen Ginsberg and Chogyam Trungpa, anchors each carefully chosen haiku in just enough interpretation to whet your mental whistle. So no worries if you don’t get it.

This beautiful book offers perfect poetry for today’s impatient reader seeking quality, not quantity. Great gift for the contemplative poet in your life.