1. Heart of the DiamondThis essay did not begin as a plan. It began as a kind of pressure—subtle, persistent, irresistible. Not a thought, exactly, but a movement beneath thought. Something wanting to come into form.Often my writing begins this way...

“Once upon a time…” and “A long time ago…” we began to make sense of the world by telling stories. We told them around fires when nights were truly dark, in whispered prayers on our knees as children, in bedtime rituals with storyboo...

The traditional Japanese poem form of the haiku has a sparseness and elegance that few other poetic forms carry.In its English-language version, it consists of three short lines, traditionally with a syllable structure of 5-7-5, though looser forms h...