Book of the Week: Towing the Breeze

Our Book of the Week is Towing the Breeze, by English poet Graham High. Canals, and their associated locks, and tow paths were once more numerous in England than almost anywhere. They were the country’s most important means of transporting goods before the coming of the railroads, and have to a large extent survived progress to be re-purposed as touring boats that remind us of the past in beguiling ways. Graham has clearly made many a tour aboard them, and his poetic observations of the passing scenes help us imagine and share with him the pleasures of this poetic pastime.

tying her boat
to the jetty, girl with a
belly-button ring

brown waters
gushing through the leaky gate
-time for a pint

tipping up
beside the dredging bucket
a duck’s tail

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

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Haiku featured in the Book of the Week Archive are selected by THF Digital Librarian Garry Eaton, and are used with permission