Book-of-the-Week

Book of the Week: No One Sees the Stems

yarrow_stemscover

Ruth Yarrow is a naturalist and activist, and her passion for her vocations can be discovered even in her earliest work, such as this small volume published by High/Coo Press in 1981.

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.




a marmot's whistle
pierces the mountain-
first star


north wind moans
through a crack
in my dream



on the icy limb
the hawk turns
to a silhouette


late autumn sun
signaling
from the spider's strand



chill dawn:
between the child's coughs
a distant crow


snow patches:
thicket along the stream
snags the fog



warm rain before dawn:
my milk flows into her
unseen


spring ocean in fog:
invisible waves and gull cries
swelling together



picking the last pears
yellow windows hang
in the dusk

This Post Has 9 Comments

  1. Thank you for sharing Ruth’s lovely and poignant poetry. Since I’m new to haiku I haven’t had the chance to learn of some of the earlier work of current haiku poets– and so I additionally appreciate this.

  3. Though I love haiku, many of them do not “connect” for me. All of Ruth Yarrow’s haiku both make sense and speak to my heart. Many thanks.

  4. This collection of Ruth’s work is truly beautiful. Being able to read a book like this that is close to impossible to obtain otherwise is also such a gift.

  7. Thanks, Tom, and thanks, Jim

    I seem to remember, Tom, that you wrote about Ruth Yarrow’s influence; I was just at your website to recall more. The “last pears” and “yellow windows” are so beautiful, as the light changes – have seen this with some flowers.

    Ellen

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