An Interview with Lenard D. Moore, Acclaimed Jazz and Haiku Poet

Lenard D. Moore is a celebrated jazz poet and profound haikuist, the former president of The Haiku Society of America, and the founder of the Carolina African American Writers’ Collective. Lane Community College had the opportunity to host Moore for a jazz poetry reading. Moore spoke with an engaging cadence, a genuine elegance, and a near tangible passion. He sang his jazz pieces as if his trio were with him in his home. He spoke about growing up on a farm, spending hours tending to his family’s fields, staring over the pastures, and how that deepened his well of inspiration from a young age. Moore took the time to answer a few questions prior to his reading.

GM: What is haiku to you?

Lenard D. Moore: Haiku is a way of life to me. I must write haiku to stay attuned to the natural world. I also want to capture haiku moments. In addition, I want to find meaning in phenomena. Moreover, I want to document ecological revelations. More importantly, I want to incorporate the Black experience into my haiku writing and infuse my haiku with music, such as gospel, blues and jazz. In short, haiku is spiritual to me.

GM: What is your relationship with jazz music?

LDM: Jazz has certainly influenced my life. I listen to jazz all the time. Jazz has become a part of me, and I have become jazz. I like jazz so much that I have infused it into my haiku writing and other writings. I also try to incorporate jazz into my prose writing.

GM: How have genres, aside from jazz, influenced your work?

LDM: Genres are so important to me, because I write poetry, fiction, nonfiction, plays, lyrics and book reviews. I started working on a novel or novella decades ago. I also started writing another novel while on sabbatical during the Spring 2018 Semester. A couple of my short stories have been published.

GM: What is your relationship with creation? What process, physical or spiritual, would you say brings forth your most fulfilling work?

LDM: I think my writing is always percolating whether I am listening to music, visiting a museum or art gallery, attending readings or sports events, reading scripture or a book, or going on a ginko (haiku walk). At times, poetic lines emerge while I am on a nature walk. Sometimes poetic lines come to me while I walk or run around the track for exercise. Of course, I sit down to write, too. Then there are times when I drive to the beach. I like roving on my childhood grounds, too. In short, there are many things that trigger a poem.

GM: What journey did you go on to find solace in writing? Did you enjoy reading and writing as a child?

LDM: When I was in elementary school, we were bussed so far away. I had plenty of time to read books. I read and read. I loved those books. I also enjoyed listening to my maternal grandfather’s storytelling. I was so fascinated with words. To that end, I began writing early during my school days. I also wrote daily during evenings and nights when I was in the Army.

Mr. Moore was recently recognized as the 2020-2021 honorary curator of American Haiku Archives at the California State Library, Sacramento. For additional information about Moore and his work, see this feature on the American Haiku Archive website.