tea: all the time it takes is an anthology of haiku about drinking tea. The collection is edited by artist and poet, Denise Fontaine-Pincince, who also provided the cover art. The book title is itself a haiku, written by Sondra J. Byrnes.

Drinking tea and writing haiku are activities that originated in Asia and have since spread around the world. Each has a long tradition: hundreds of years in the case of haiku and thousands of years in the case of tea. This collection brings those two traditions together in a single book. I’m sure many people will enjoy drinking a cup of tea while reading this anthology.

The book is a delight. Beautifully set out and produced, it contains more than 120 haiku by contemporary poets from 13 countries, arranged alphabetically by author. Denise thoughtfully concludes the book with poems by five of the Japanese haiku Masters. In doing so, she reminds the reader of the long-established customs relating to tea and haiku, thereby placing the modern-day poems in their historical context.

a cedar stands tall
above the tea house —
autumn sunset

Masaoka Shiki (1867-1902)

Clearly, today’s writers are familiar with the Japanese tradition of drinking tea, and with the tea ceremony (or Sadō) which involves the ceremonial preparation of matcha (powdered green tea).

whisking matcha
stillness settles
around us

(Ravi Kiran, India)

steeped
in ancient poems
the taste of tea

(Tony Beyer, New Zealand)

tea ceremony
it begins & ends
with an empty cup

(Stanford M. Forrester/sekiro, USA)

Tea and haiku – what a perfect combination. Each one helps a person to clear their mind and appreciate the beauty of the moment. Individually, and together, they exemplify the Japanese aesthetic of yūgen: the subtly profound nature of an object or experience. They encourage us to go beyond the superficial, to consider context and history.

Whether it be black tea, green tea or a herbal infusion, drinking tea gives us time to savour the joy in our day while accepting the realities of life. These haiku present scenes that ask us to reflect on our place in the world and our journey through it.

red berry tea
the birds just starting
to sing

(Xenia Tran, Scotland)

heirloom teapot pouring my heart out

(Cynthia Anderson, USA)

jasmine tea
I cradle the bowl
with mother’s hands

(Maxianne Berger, Canada)

cold tea
in the tea cup
no more to say

(Gregory Piko, Australia)

These days, we often read poetry online. In contrast, the tactile experience of holding tea: all the time it takes seems to invite closer connection with the poems. This, combined with the natural symbiosis between tea and haiku makes reading this anthology a rewarding experience. You might wish to buy the book for yourself, though it would also make the perfect gift for anyone interested in tea and/or haiku.

My thanks go to Denise for her careful editing and tasteful production of this book. You can purchase a copy of tea: all the time it takes from Amazon.

Previous publication credits —

Shiki: A House By Itself, Selected Haiku: Masaoka Shiki, White Pine Press, 2017
Forrester: Matcha, nutwagon press
Tran: Presence, #73, 2022
Anderson: Scarlet Dragonfly, 2022
Berger: Wales Haiku Journal, Autumn, 2020
Piko: The Heron’s Nest, Vol. 8.1, 2006