March was a difficult month but one shining light was discovering the poetry of Richard Wright.

Richard Wright was a famous African-American novelist who moved to France with his family in 1946. During the last 18 months of his life, Wright discovered the Japanese poetic form of haiku. He proceeded to write over 4,000 haiku, obsessively scribbling on napkins and scraps of paper wherever he went. Wright chose 817 haiku for publication but his book was never released. Due to the efforts of his daughter, however, the haikus were finally published in 1998, 38 years after his death.  

Here are a few examples of Richard Wright's evocative verse:

The harbor at dawn:

The faint scent of oranges

On gusts of March wind. 

Whitecaps on the bay:

A broken signboard banging

In the April wind. 

Why do I listen

To the muttering thunder

This night of spring? 

Just before dawn,

When the streets are deserted,

A light spring rain. 

With nervous pleasure,

The tulips are receiving

A spring rain at dusk. 

Keep straight down this block,

Then turn right where you will find

A peach tree blooming. 

Haiku excerpted from Richard Wright's book: "Haiku: This Other World."