My Red: The Selected Haiku of John Stevenson

by John Stevenson

Genres: Poetry

159 pages, Hardcover

Published January 1, 2021

Reviews

[Richard Tice · Rating 5 out of 5]

As an editor for Frogpond in the past and The Heron's Nest presently, John Stevenson has reviewed and accepted all types of English-language haiku. For The Heron's Nest, much of that has been nature-oriented, objective haiku with juxtaposed images. However, John writes much differently, with a distinctive style. Many of his haiku (or senryu) have no break. Often, he writes subjectively about his experience, feelings, and thoughts, and those poems that use juxtaposition usually place objective image against subjective thought, nature juxtaposed with human nature. His poems in this collection range through the depth and variety of human emotion. Almost all of the poems in My Red can be read on at least two levels, or in two ways. His poems typically range from six to eight words, spare but expertly chosen. His poems read well out loud too. He's prolific, with more than 2000 published haiku, but always inventive in his published work. If you write haiku, like I do, this collection will challenge you to write more insightfully and to push boundaries. Congratulations John and Brooks Books for My Red!