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What If Zen Gardens ...
Guernica Editions, Fall 2017
140 pages
Trade Paperback
ISBN13: 9781771832045
ISBN10: 1771832045
English
$20.00 Canada, $20.00 US
Read more from the Essential Poets Series
In What If Zen Gardens …, Henry Beissel, often considered the master of the long poem, turns to the time-honoured tradition of the haiku to help bring to light what he calls “the world's hidden affairs.” Included in the collection are a series of black-and-white illustrations by Arlette Francière, themselves polished gems reflecting and enhancing the poems.
Haiku are prisms
that refract the mystery
of being alive
and reveal the world
in spectra of images
for meditation.
In a world where time has become something of an obsession, the reader is given the chance to slow down and enjoy each haiku individually or as part of a greater whole, to revel in the beauty of words …
Contemporary Verse 2
A surprise from a poet renowned for his complex long poems, the “364 haiku and 1 tanka” in this collection strike a gentle and contemplative mood. Starting with a gorgeous misty cover in blues, greens, soft yellows and purples by artist Arlette Francière, the reader is led into imagery drawn from the meticulously planned and sculpted rock and water gardens of Japanese Zen tradition. This is matched with Beissel’s thoughtful twists on the mind and how it relates to the natural and mundane human world we live in … What If Zen Gardens … is a book to place somewhere sunlit and easy to reach where its attractive cover and contents invite a wander through gardens of repose, taken in small steps and with frequent stops to enjoy the view.
Susan McMaster
Awards
- Ottawa Book Awards (shortlisted)
Reviews
-
Snapshots Review
Snapshots - Contemporary Verse 2 - August 21, 2018
Books by Henry Beissel
Books by Arlette Francière