Local poet draws inspiration from furry friends, nearby nature

by Charles Cassady  

Dogs may be man’s best friend, and they haven’t done badly for writers and poets, either: for example, Rudyard Kipling’s “The Power of the Dog” and Broadview Heights’ own N.K. Hasen’s collection of dog-themed poetry. 

Hasen has written a baker’s (barker’s?) dozen of self-published poetry books, including “30 Poems in 30 Days,” “105 Dog Haikus,” “Something Close at the Roots” and three volumes under the title “A Collection of Dog Poetry.”  

Many of the verses center on or return to themes of the noble canine, some even told from the dog’s view of the world.  

In addition to Amazon, Hasen’s poetry books can be purchased, fittingly, at local pet supply shops, such as Pawsitively Pure in Broadview Heights and The Natural Pet in North Royalton. And more books are to come.  

“I have one in draft mode and have to see if I have enough poems for ‘A Collection of Dog Poetry Vol. IV,’” said Hasen.  

The author has drawn guidance from great names of poetry-kennels past.  

“Robert Frost, Emily Dickinson, Carl Sandburg, Walt Whitman, John Keats and Edgar Allen Poe [and] some modern poets — I get inspiration from their poems,” Hasen said. “My dog, Chelsey, inspired me to write poems about her. Now it is my new dog Kana.”  

Hasen had Chelsey, a German shepherd/akita/chow mix, for 10 years, before she passed away in 2018. 

“She was wary of strangers but loved her family, loved playing with toys, window watching, walks and being in front of a camera,” Hasen said. “She had some challenges because of the breeds she was mixed in, but I learned a lot from her. She was the best companion I had and helped me through some ups and down of my life.”  

Hasen has lived in Broadview Heights since 2007 but has roots in Brecksville.  

“When I was 7, my mom, sister and I moved to Brecksville to live with my grandma,” Hasen said. “So, I lived close to the area all my life.”  

At the University of Mount Union, Hasen started setting verse down in notebooks while signing up for courses that skewed toward a career as a video editor, digital photographer/imager, web designer and multimedia programmer.  

“I took popular fiction and screenplay-playwriting courses; a lot depended on what was available for the year,” Hasen said. “Mostly, my classes were technical or what I minored in, which was geology.”  

Many of Hasen’s work assignments can be done remotely from home, giving the writer more quality dog time.  

“Since I’ve been able to work from home, I got the chance to do some fostering, which I always wanted to do but never had the time,’’ Hasen said. “I love being able to help rescue dogs find new homes. I adopted Kana [a Shibu Inu] last year in July. She was a rescue dog.”  

Time logged in front of computers has not detracted from Hasen’s pull to the outdoors. 

“I love nature. A lot of the poems come from around where I live,” Hasen said. “I have ponds, lots of trees, and it has a ‘nature’ feeling when I go out and walk the dog. … So some of the poems come from what I see outside my condo.”  

Brecksville Reservation, the Cleveland Botanical Gardens and the Rockefeller Greenhouse on Martin Luther King Boulevard in Cleveland are some of the writer’s choice muses.  

“My favorite flora are trees,” Hasen said. “Just looking at trees can spark a poem. Especially when you see the tree change throughout the seasons.”  

Hasen’s photography skills have been an asset, as well. 

“I believe the visual component feeds into my writings,” the poet said. “Sometimes I look back at my photos and get a poem from them. When you look through the lens to see things differently, sometimes you will see detail that you normally don’t see with the naked eye.”  

Hasen’s favorite type of poetry is haiku.  

“But I do love trying other forms,” Hasen said, including free verse, epistles (poetry written as a letter), elevenie (short poetry of 11 words in five lines), triolet (iambic tetrameter poems, usually in eight lines) and a new form of recent vintage, the “hay(na)ku” (three short-short lines, adding one word at a time, in ascending or descending order).  

Hasen said when imagination is running high, a poem can take as little as 20 minutes, or it might take two days.  

“I usually write three poems a week,” Hasen said. “If inspiration strikes me, I open my WordPress or start working on the poem on my phone if I am not near my computer.”  

For updates on Hasen’s poems of dogs, nature and more, visit poetrybyhasen.wordpress.com.

Feature image photo caption: N.K. Hasen’s late dog Chelsey, who inspired much of the poet’s work, browses a collection of literature. Photo by N.K. Hasen