I write haiku when I'm feelin' blue and when love and pain make me want to. Join us on a journey through the pain of betrayal, divorce and after... We love the traditional Japanese haiku format of 17 syllables on 3 lines: 5-7-5. It is very symmetrical, terse and disciplined. However, these are not your great grandfather's haiku. This is Modern American Haiku. We do keep the fundamental format, but that 's all. For one thing, we give them titles, which we believe helps the reader focus on the punch in each haiku. Second, there is word play. Third, there is the extra dimension of the images in which the haiku are embedded or by which they are framed. We believe the reader will be amazed at how well the illustrations deepen the haiku. Ted and Patricia Ted Becker has led many lives: Class clown of his high school. Sports editor of his college newspaper. Consumer researcher for a large Madison Avenue advertising agency. Member of the legal staff for the Attorney General of New Jersey. Military intelligence. Professional graduate student. Itinerant academic. Guerilla theatre producer. Boogyboarder and bodysurfer. Mediator. Online journal editor. Author of 12 books on law, politics and political science. Patricia Lantz is a former stylist and business owner, an Atlanta-based counseling astrologer, and writer and editor of astrology on AllThingsHealing.com, an online community dedicated to holistic and alternative healing of mind, body, spirit, and planet.