In the pages of Seeds from a Birch Tree, Clark Strand redefines haiku as a literary art in English, and explains how to use the practice of writing and reading haiku as a form of meditation and as a path to self-awareness. Throughout this remarkable book, Strand provides specific examples of great haiku and the spiritual qualities they contain, and includes a few simple exercises to help you get started in composing your own haiku.

But Seeds from a Birch Tree is not only a book about writing haiku. It also follows Strand's passage from haiku novice to a place of understanding, both of haiku and of himself. Along the way, he shares his personal experiences as a Zen student, a Zen Buddhist monk, and a haiku teacher.