skip to Main Content

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.

Do you have a chapbook published 2010 or earlier 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 Garry Eaton, and are used with permission

This Post Has One Comment

Comments are closed.

Back To Top