J.B. Conway has been a Police Officer since 1998. He is passionate about a few things: his kids, sports, and anything Disney! The Disney passion really ignited when he brought his kids to Walt Disney World for the first time in November 2006 when they were 1.5 and 3.5 years old. Visions of the castle through his children's eyes created a turning point in his life and he turned to writing as an outlet.
JB's second book of poetry, Mouse of Zen, was released in June 2009. The haikus in the book derive from both Disney roots as well as a sense of well-being and calm that is true to ancient Japanese haiku. The inspiration JB finds in his kids and the feelings and emotions found in the Disney parks sparks his haiku creations. He tries to emulate how romance and beauty connects with Disney memories in a way to which others can relate.
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A haiku is a highly structured poetic snippet consisting of three short phrases that together should trigger an image in your mind. You won't find haikus at Disney. You will find haikus about Disney every Monday on the Disney Dispatch written by JB Conway, author of the well-regarded book, Mouse of Zen, which of course is full of Disney haikus. What better way to step into your Disney week!
AUG 8 With Zennish calm, JB Conway reflects upon the many Pavilions in the World Showcase, contemplating not so much theme as essence: today, he banishes thoughts of the McKenzie Brothers from his mind and takes a good gander at the Canada Pavilion.
AUG 1 Imagine yourself in the World Showcase. In your mind's eye, what do you see? Crowds? Sure. Strollers? Unfortunately. Large, lumbering people who stop suddenly and stare in a stupor? Yes. But what are they holding? Booze. In plastic cups.
JUL 25 Does everyone love a Disney parade? Not quite. You'll see your share of heretics who eagerly await the Magic Kingdom parades so they can take advantage of the shorter lines at popular attractions. This haiku is not meant for them...
JUL 18 You wanna stay for the parade? Those words probably are some of the most frequently spoken by guests in the Magic Kingdom toward dusk. And most of them do stay for the Main Street Electrical Parade. As did JB Conway, one night not so long ago.
JUL 11 Who loves a parade? Well, judging from the tightly packed, slightly sweaty crowds that line Main Street, U.S.A. every afternoon, just about every guest in the Magic Kingdom. The parade JB Conway saw was not quite like the one you saw...
JUL 4 Parades draw crowds, and in the perverse calculus of vacations, crowds draw rain. Maybe it's the heat rising from all those packed bodies that seeds the clouds. Whatever it is, JB Conway doesn't let anything rain on his parade.
JUN 27 You don't hear much buzz about the Astro Orbiter. It's a spin ride, nothing special, and has accumulated little nostalgia in all the years of its existence. Have you ridden it? JB Conway has. And he features it in today's haiku.
JUN 20 How much, exactly, can you fit into a bite-size haiku? Well, if you're a master of the form, quite a lot - and that really is the point! JB Conway takes us south, as in the Deep South, with equal parts Princess Tiana and Virgil Tibbs.
JUN 13 Fitting that JB Conway should select as the setting for this week's haiku the Japan Pavilion at EPCOT, since the Japanese developed haiku as an expression of their culture. JB's haiku, of course, is an expression of Disney, and here the twain meet.
JUN 6 Where better to experience moonlight than the Haunted Mansion. Or where worse? If we're able to evade the ghosts spiffing up their moontans, we'll follow the beams up, up to the attic, where our bride awaits, heart beating, axe... swinging?
MAY 30 As 'regular' May draws to a close, so does 'Mickey' May, our month-long series of haiku by JB Conway featuring everyone's favorite Mouse. We've had wisps of Mickey, tears of Mickey, chills and crumbs, too. Now it's Mickey in the clouds ... with magic!
MAY 23 So far this month, we've had wisps of Mickey and tears of Mickey, then we got the big Mickey chill, and now we'll seek the Mouse on the lips of a child. JB Conway has an eye for the profound even when what he's looking at is there to be wiped away.
MAY 16 So far this month, we've had wisps of Mickey and tears of Mickey; now it's time to chill, and chill with perhaps the very best incarnation of Mickey: the Mickey Ice Cream Bar. JB Conway knows the power of these frozen confections, even when they're melting.
MAY 9 Last week, we did 'Wisps of Mickey', a haiku about the mist rising from the street art sometimes created by Disney custodians. From wisp to tear: only it's not Mickey crying, it's the kids who have come to see Mickey but experience meltdown on the way.
MAY 2 At Disney, you're supposed to look up, look down, look all around for magic often missed. Disney poet JB Conway found some of that magic at his very feet one hot, sunny day in Disney World, and captured the moment in haiku.
APR 25 In Epcot, as in all the Disney parks, there are quiet little hideaways, nooks of little noise, where you can escape the happy crowds and take a moment to get your magic back. This isn't about those nooks. It's about Vikings! Vikings seeking a lost ship...
APR 18 If you're like me, the first thing that comes to mind on a Monday morning is beer, German beer, the kind sold in the German pavilion at Epcot. Coupling German beer with haiku is brilliant, especially when the purpose of the haiku is not simply German beer.
APR 11 The Christmas season is one of the most enjoyable times to spend in Disney World. The decorations are up, festive music plays, and 'snow' sometimes falls in the Magic Kingdom. But another treat awaits at Epcot, in front of the American Adventure...
APR 4 So who's Beverly? If you believe the rumors, Beverly is liquid love, an Italian bevanda, and she's dispensing herself to anyone in Epcot who wants a taste. Before any of you gentlemen sneak off to Epcot, sans family, it's not what you think...
MAR 28 There's no way to spin this week's haiku except to say that I didn't get it right away. Take your pick: am I that dim or is JB Conway that good? (Answer: both!) When enlightenment finally dawned, I enjoyed a moment of clarity and discovery. So will you.
MAR 21 Moonlight? Wonderland? Glitter? You know what you're in for this week: Disney beauty most fantastical! Not only that, but JB takes a break from his traditional haiku-age and demonstrates his equal proficiency with a more difficult pattern.
MAR 14 One of the saddest experiences of childhood is to watch your balloons somehow work loose from your grip and fly away, out of reach, soon out of sight. It's often the first time you realize that your parents can't always help. I'm not so sure JB's haiku expresses sadness. It chronicles a... MORE
MAR 7 This haiku is one of JB's most personal poems. In it, he recognizes the potency of Walt Disney's muse, floating invisibly through the air at the theme parks, ready to infuse the souls and the hearts of those who breathe it in. It's a powerful invocation, and I'm sure most of us feel as JB does when the rope... MORE
FEB 28 So it's not March: it's February 28. Close enough, especially when an aspect of this haiku, the first entry for Magic Kingdom March, is springtime. I said 'aspect', not theme. This haiku really isn't about springtime. It's about arrival. JB skillfully weaves two kinds of long-awaited arrivals into his haiku. The first... MORE
FEB 21 This one is a classic damsel in distress story - with a Disney twist. JB puts in three clues, one per line, to help you identify the Frontierland ride in which the damsel has been trapped. Briars: come on, you know it! There's only one place in the Magic Kingdom you'll find briars, especially briars in a... MORE
FEB 14 Everyone who's ever been to the Magic Kingdom knows Pecos Bill Tall Tale Inn & Cafe, the quick-service restaurant in Frontierland. And Pecos Bill is justly famous for its fixin's bar. But what does JB mean by 'over the top'? As with all good poetry, it's susceptible to multiple meanings. Does... MORE
FEB 7 The haiku theme for this month is Frontierland February. Each week, JB Conway will present a new haiku which in some way reminds him - and hopefully, you - of Disney World's Frontierland. Maybe it's a ride. Maybe a building. Maybe it's a scent or a sound. Whatever it is, JB's haiku will conjure it in your mind and... MORE
JAN 31 The haiku theme for this month is Frontierland February. Each week, JB Conway will present a new haiku which in some way reminds him - and hopefully, you - of Disney World's Frontierland. Maybe it's a ride. Maybe a building. Maybe it's a scent or a sound. Whatever it is, JB's haiku will conjure it in your mind and... MORE