The president of the European Union, Herman Van Rompuy, set aside politics to launch his first anthology of Japanese-style poetry on Thursday, April 15.
Dubbed "Haiku Herman" for his love of the 17-syllable Japanese verse form, the normally quiet and serious Van Rompuy smiled and cracked jokes as he read several of his recent compositions to a packed audience at the book launch.
"A poet remains best away from politics, at least in political action," the grey and bespectacled former Belgian prime minister said of his poet-politician double life.
"In that sense I am a politician. A haiku poet rather than a haiku poet-politician."
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