Author Description

In this first collection of haiku, Tea's Aftertaste, Aubrie Cox gathers the best of her work that has been published in peer-reviewed journals and anthologies. Editors have recognized the quality of her haiku, including one published in a best of the year anthology, Evolution: The Red Moon Anthology of English-Language Haiku 2010 published by Red Moon Press. However, the significance of this chapbook is not merely the external recognition evident in the extensive list of journals and anthologies in the acknowledgements. The true significance is the many gifts of insight and awareness awaiting readers in her haiku. Aubrie's haiku are not in a hurry. Her haiku take time to breathe and to fully contemplate the things being observed or remembered. Her haiku understand that they come from the human heart, even though on the surface her images may appear to be merely objective. Her haiku are authentic; they are not written from an it s all about me voice. She knows how to wear a narrative mask and how to take it off. Her haiku are not afraid of the dark, nor the spiritual depths of churchyard shadows. She makes subtle allusions to well-known Japanese and English-language haiku. Her haiku are not about vanity nor wistfulness and rarely slip into self-pitying regret. Although she is drawn to Japanese culture and traditions, her haiku are not oriental knock-offs. They have deep roots in central Illinois. Aubrie writes with a certainty that comes from being in a community, knowing who she is in relation to other generations. When she attended the second Cradle of American Haiku Festival in Mineral Point, Wisconsin, she instantly became everyone s granddaughter because of the community s enthusiastic embrace of her as a young contributor to the art of haiku. She writes haiku about family, exploring connections to ancestors and childhood. Her haiku convey a sense of connectedness to the earth and to ancestors, both literary and literal. It is not surprising to me that Aubrie ha