Book of the Week – Orpheus in the Underpass by Gabriel Rosenstock with photos by Ross McKessock
This book is the first product of the ongoing collaboration between artist Ross McKessock and haikuist Gabriel Rosenstock. Inspired by the image of Orpheus in the underworld, Rosenstock has composed a haiku rensaku in response to an audio recording of McKessock duetting with wheezing buses, heckling onlookers, and the ambient sounds of Oxford in an underpass sandwiched between City Council offices and the ongoing construction of a new shopping centre. McKessock has, in turn, illustrated the haiku sequence with his photographs of the site.
Orpheus in the Underpass was published by Onslaught Press in 2017.
Here are a few selected poems from the book:
an gcloisir mé
mise atá ann, oirféas . . .
tá téada mo ghutha caillte agamcan you hear me
it is i orpheus . . .
i have lost my vocal cords—
ag rith as am
as anáil
as éigserunning out of time
out of breath
out of poetry—
sÃos sÃos sÃos
sÃos sÃos
sÃos ionam féindown down down
down down
down into myself—
nà léir dom mé féin . . .
nà fheicim ach falla
is scáth dóite anni cannot see myself . . .
only a shadow
burning the wall—
ba éan mé
ba néal
faraor, duinei have been a bird
a cloud
alas, a man
You can read the entire book in the THF Digital Library and please share your favorite poem from the book with us.
Do you have a full or chapbook length book published in 2018 or earlier that 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 the THF Digital Librarian Kenneth Pearson and are used with permission.
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Magical!