Mended Haibun

Written By Anne Duncan

A variation on torrin a. greenhouse’s “burning haibun,” this piece erases from an original prose poem to an ultimate haiku. The erasure is achieved by weaving with thread through strips of letterpress printed text on paper — with the exception of one word of the haiku literally mended back into place from the original text.

The prose poem is published in Pithead Chapel, and the erasure project won the Paula Svonkin Creative Arts award from the Pacific Ancient and Modern Language Association, and is featured on PAMLA Arts Matter.

Materials: Cotton paper, letterpress type with oil ink, cotton thread dyed with onion skins, turmeric and avocado.

Page 1 of "Mended Haibun," featuring a letterpresses prose poem with a small sewn patch in the middle of the text.
Page 2 of "Mended Haibun," with most of the page erased via weaving thread over the lines of text.
Page 3 of "Mended Haibun" with all but the haiku erased via weaving.
Anne Duncan
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