Mecum, R. (2008). Zombie haiku. Cincinnati, OH: HOW books.
ISBN-13: 978-1-60061-070-7
Plot Summary
Zombie Haiku is the supposed haiku poetry journal of author Ryan Mecum that is found by Chris Lynch as he is attacked by Ryan inside an airport bathroom. Leading up to this event is a zombie apocalypse that began as an ordinary day when Ryan woke up late and tried to rush to work. His mind is joyfully preoccupied with thoughts of his new-found love. However, Ryan quickly realizes that things are not ordinary at all. When he got in the car, his neighbor stares at him oddly. The streets are clogged with abandoned cars. The radio station isn’t playing any music. Ryan finally realizes that the world has been taken over by zombies when he sees his co-worker, Beth, eating brains in her car. He runs away to find safety, but crowds of zombies are lunging after him. Ryan climbs up a billboard sign to get away from them and waits for help, which never comes. Desperate, he jumps down to try to run, but his landing is bad and as he rolls in the grass, zombies attack him. He is bitten, and he knows what will happen next when he doesn’t feel quite right. Looking for blood and brains, he finds his mother and then visits a nursing home. His human instincts fade away as his body transforms completely into a zombie and he joins other zombies on their way to the city. Eventually, the mass of the zombie plague makes its way to an airport where living humans are safely barricaded inside behind windows. When the fence falls, the hungry zombies feast away, and Ryan’s rigor mortis is catching up to him but not before he finds Chris Lynch in the airport bathroom.
Critical Evaluation
The verses of Zombie Haiku reveal the story of the undead poet through the three line 5-7-7 syllabication of haiku. The pages start off clean but get dirtier as Ryan continues his zombie journey and descriptive stanzas detailing the deterioration of Ryan’s body show the progression from human, to just-bitten, and then to transformation. The fragmented, disjointed lines and verses reflect the craze Ryan feels as he searches for fresh flesh. Humorous passages are juxtaposed against the horror of a zombie apocalypse: “I loved my momma/ I eat her with my mouth closed,/ how she would want it” and “Everything I thought/ tasted a lot like chicken/ really tastes like man.” Blood-stained Polaroid pictures duct-taped to the journal’s pages and sketches of severed limbs add to the horror. Drops and smears of blood and strands of hair randomly adorn the pages with gruesome effect. Traditionally, haiku is a very intimate and full of feelings, usually about nature and life. This creates irony; there is nothing natural about zombies, and they are the undead. Also, while haiku is usually a peaceful reflection of life, Zombie Haiku is anything but. Haiku is prescribed, there are rules that must be followed, and there is only one way to write them. Similarly, being a zombie means there is only one thing you must do: find brains. It is a little confusing between Ryan’s haikus and Chris Lynch’s scribbled notes and readers might not understand whose haiku journal this is at first. This modern spin on haiku poetry gives a traditional and ancient art new purpose: entertainment.
Reader’s Annotation
While trapped inside an airport bathroom, Chris Lynch finds this journal of haiku poetry written by author Ryan Mecum. In it, he reads of Ryan’s horrifying descent into zombie apocalypse until he himself can read no more.
Author Information
Ryan Mecum was born May 31, 1975 and grew up in Cincinnati, where he currently lives with his wife and children. He earned an English degree from the University of Cincinnati and he likes to write books about fiction and poetry.
Ryan Mecum enjoys interacting with and talking to teenagers. Some of his favorite topics of conversation are scary monsters, comics, and God. He works for a ministry called Younglife. He loves the band R.E.M. and once told the lead singer, Michael Stipe, that he loved him as much than he loves his wife.
Ryan Mecum is available to contact through email, his blog, and Facebook. He welcomes monster haiku written by anyone and often posts them on his website.
A website dedicated to zombie haiku can be found at http://www.zombiehaiku.com/index.html
More information about Ryan Mecum can be found on his website:
Genre
Young adult/ Adult crossover
Poetry
Haiku
Humor
Curriculum Ties
Haiku poetry
Book Talking Ideas
Write a haiku…
Reading Level/ Interest Age
Appropriate for ages 14 and up
Challenge Issues
N/A
Challenge Defense
N/A
Why did I include this title?
I first saw this little book in an airport bookstore. I think it was Washington Dulles International Airport. Anyway, it cracked me up. I didn’t buy it because I didn’t need anything more weighing my luggage down, but as soon as I got home, I ordered it. When we study poetry in class, I pull it out and show it to my students, and they love it. Again, who doesn’t like zombies?!
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