A rainbow of birds in haiku
English major Rebecca von Damm creates a flight of seven original poems
UCLA College
| September 9, 2024
English major Rebecca von Damm creates vivid vignettes, 17 syllables at a time.
On her Instagram, page @heatherigarnet, the fourth-year student regularly posts original haiku poems that evoke, almost tangibly, the sights, scents, sounds and feelings of everyday life.
Von Damm recently contributed her talents to “We Are UCLAvian,” a UCLA College mini-magazine themed around birds. Her “Birdbow” is a cycle of seven compositions that form a literal Roy G. Biv of avian haiku. The poems honor the rosella (red), oriole (orange), canary (yellow), tanager (green), blue jay (blue), bunting (indigo) and amethyst starling (violet).
Watch and listen here: