Emily Romano’s work in this modest chapbook, self-published in 1979, gives a good idea of the state of the art at the time. Her skillful handling of the 5-7-5 or near-so form is among the best of the day, feeling fluid and unforced, which, as those who have tried the rigorous syllable count know, is no easy feat.
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 Jim Kacian, following a concept first explored by Tom Clausen, and are used with permission.
lengthening shadows of the purple thistles fresco the wet barnmy shadow falls on the river and at once the duckweed tremblesan old brazil nut casts a triangular shadow; a few mice droppings . . .a tire swing and its shadow on the snow— not a breath of wind.shadows of the elms grow longer on the snow; we step over themmoving day: the old homestead recedes into the shadow
Loved the tire swing haiku, ‘not a breath of wind’ is a stunning line. Thanks for sharing.
a tire swing
and its shadow on the snow—
not a breath of wind.
~ Emily Romano
” a tire swing” foreshadows some of her fine work to come.
Though I like ” lengthening shadows” & ” my shadow falls”, they are more along the line of Ginsberg’s American Sentences.
lengthening shadows
of the purple thistles
fresco the wet barn
Emily Romano
I enjoyed this book and seeing the credits in the book adds to the history. I noted for example that this wonderful poem appeared in Modern Haiku in 1976 – and now this week here.
Many of these poems also express the Wisconsin countryside for me, and I remember the elms.
Thank you, Ellen
Love those Jersey girls. Emily Romano has always been one of my favorite
poets. Thank you for sharing.