Book of the Week: Pompeian Figures by John Martone

In tinywords, we learn that John heard Italian in his infancy and grew up reading Dickinson in Whitman’s hometown of Huntington New York. He discovered haiku in an underground bookstore, publishes most of his work in small, handmade editions and his pen-names include Ordinary Fool and Worst of Sinners. Additional books in the Digital Library by John include Dogwood and Honeysuckle, Periwinkle and A Lost World’s Weather.

night deepens
a table of
irregular verbs

understanding
the language at last you come
to a pawnshop

coins for that woman
huddled on a church step
outside Pompeii

so much life — at 85
knocking olives from
his grandfather’s trees

You can read the entire book in the THF Digital Library and share your favorite poem from the book in the Comments section.

Do you have a chapbook published in 2015 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 THF Digital Librarian Dan Campbell and are used with permission.