Haiku, anyone?

Last Friday, Emily and I put together a site for PARK(ing) Day, a global one-day event where people turn parking spaces into temporary parks. Ours was called "Leaves of Grass: A Literary PARK(ing) Space" and came complete with rugs, comfy chairs and pillows, free books (donated by folks in the community), snacks, bookmaking for kids, and more. We also raised a little moola for a new branch library being built in our neighborhood: a volunteer from Friends of the Public Library was on hand to sell calendars, and I set up the Haiku Hut. (See also my 12/9/05 blog entry.) It was quite the fun day, and cops only stopped by twice to ask us what we were doing.

As I sat at my Haiku Hut table, I realized just how much I love writing custom haiku for people. It struck me how fantastic it would be to do it more. As in, a lot more. We've started brainstorming ideas of where I might be able to set up the Haiku Hut more regularly, while still giving myself the flexibility I need to take care of everything else in my life. I never want it to become a chore.

Do you have ideas? Do you volunteer with a nonprofit in San Francisco that could use something fun like this for an event? Post a comment and let me know. We can all use more poetry in the world.