Book-of-the-Week

Book of the Week: In Borrowed Shoes

aoyagishoes

Fay Aoyagi is a translator by day and a haiku poet by night, and we can find evidence of each of her halves borrowing from the other in this award-winning book, from her own Blue Willow Press in 2006.

You can read the entire book in the THF Digital Library.

Do you have a chapbook published 2009 or earlier you would like featured as a Book of the Week? Contact us for details.

Haiku featured in the Book of the Week Archive are selected by Jim Kacian, following a concept first explored by Tom Clausen, and are used with permission.

autumn chill
only pennies
in the ‘tip’ jar

in the bar mirror
my Guardian Angel
makes a face

insomnia—
sheep with wings
sheep with horns

winter roses—
I am tired of reading
between the lines

hydrangeas
her split personality
and collection of rings

bumper to bumper traffic—
am I Dr. Jekell
or Mr. Hyde?

This Post Has 8 Comments

  1. I’ve owned this book since just after it was originally published. Fay brings us to the crossroads of her own creation, showing us a new path each time.

  2. Fay is one of my favorite haiku poets, too. As someone who is effective in both Japanese and English languages, she is among those people who are making haiku succeed as world poetry.

  4. Fay Aoyagi is one of my favourite haiku writers, and one of the strongest influences on my own writing.

    There are so many great haiku in this book from…

    first dandelions–
    a boy insists
    he is invisible

    these stones
    with a story inside–
    autumn deepens

    persimmons–
    I ask myself why
    I burned the bridge

    winter galaxy–
    a slow train runs along
    Memory Lane

    And as I’m a professional Santa, I have to pick this…

    I look for traces
    of Santa’s reconnaissance
    frosty morning

    A truly magical book, enjoy!

    And many thanks to Garry Eaton for making this book possible as an eBook, although I treasure my print copy too!

    warm regards,

    Alan

    1. As this is a new blog format, I must separate those wonderful haiku. 🙂

      *
      first dandelions–
      a boy insists
      he is invisible
      *
      these stones
      with a story inside–
      autumn deepens
      *
      persimmons–
      I ask myself why
      I burned the bridge
      *
      winter galaxy–
      a slow train runs along
      Memory Lane
      *

      I look for traces
      of Santa’s reconnaissance
      frosty morning
      *

  5. A poet who expresses interesting cross currents of America and Japan, whimsy and seriousness, restraint and abandon. Enjoyable to share her insights and her vision.

  6. Thank you so much for sharing these books with us! Really a beautiful thing and inspiring too!

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