Book of the Week: Monsoon
William Hart is a poet from Kansas, but you’d never know it from his work, which is often richly exotic, as this beautiful 1991 collection from Timberline Press will attest.
You can read the entire book in the THF Digital Library.
All haiku in the Book of the Week Archive are selected by Tom Clausen, and are used with permission.
below rice fields hawks hitch the wind Kathmandu valleyyielding its flower to the bee gentle butterflythree dozing mutts old scar head slits yellow eyeslitmus test for monks janitor's girl shampoos in the sunmaking a squab in a few wingbeats rooftop pigeonsa grimace in the mud— crushed ratjet supper— deep in the clouds shifting Himalayasrain on the Hooghly buoys in the current a carcass passesmellow rain falls on the Calcutta club dragonflies cruise the lawnafternoon shade a body on the sidewalk swats itselftomato vendor helps fill the scale with split onesthe leper's tin cup her stub palmfishermen in punts delta river bay-wide, movingperfect foil the pearl dealer's stained teethspice pedlar rolls seeds in a jar to stop baby cryingour train passes from mountain tunnel into clouda hilltop city shimmers under stars night train
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I really liked William Hart’s ” below rice fields” and “jet supper—”.
Wonderful! strong in sensory details of these far away places and I enjoyed the simple line drawings. Thanks again, these books have become a highlight in my week 🙂