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Connections: Morning Dew—Tanka and Core & All, Haiku
A dual book by two fine poets. Morning Tanka by Larry Smith and core & haiku by Barbara Sabol.
"Humble and direct, here we find poems that resonate in the companionship of our daily universe, rendered in the brevity of a heart’s breath. True in vision and form, it is such a great collection." –John Stickney, author of These American Moments
"Humble and direct, here we find poems that resonate in the companionship of our daily universe, rendered in the brevity of a heart’s breath. True in vision and form, it is such a great collection." –John Stickney, author of These American Moments
104 pages, Kindle Edition
Published October 5, 2022
2 people want to read
About the author
Larry Smith
156 books61 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.
Larry Smith is the founder of The Six-Word Memoir® Project, a bestselling series of nine books, board game, live event program, and a global phenomenon found in classrooms, conferences, and corporate settings alike.
Larry speaks on the power of personal storytelling across the world. He has been invited to work with teams at Twitter, Levi’s, JPMorgan Chase, Snapchat, Dell, Yelp, Shutterfly, ESPN and Google; nonprofits including the Zen Hospice Project and Dress For Success, as well as foundations, philanthropies, and schools. He’s a frequent speaker at conferences such as TEDx, PopTech, Summit Series (called “Davos for the Millennials”), the AARP 50+ Convention. He teaches the class, “What’s Your Story? How to Deliver an Authentic Elevator Pitch” in private sessions and on-site at companies.
Prior to founding the Six-Word Memoir project, Larry had a robust career in journalism. He was articles editor of Men’s Journal, executive editor of Yahoo! Internet Life, senior editor at ESPN The Magazine, a founding editor of P.O.V. and editor-in-chief of its sister publication, EGG. While living in San Francisco, he was managing editor of the wire/syndication service AlterNet and an editor at Dave Eggers' Might Magazine. His writing has appeared in The New York Times, ESPN Magazine, Popular Science, Men’s Health, Salon, Slate, Buzzfeed, and has contributed essays to many anthologies, including Modern Love: 50 True and Extraordinary Tales of Desire, Deceit, and Devotion and The End of the Golden Gate: Writers on Loving and (Sometimes) Leaving San Francisco.
He lives in Berkeley, CA, with his wife, the writer Piper Kerman, and their son.
Larry Smith is the founder of The Six-Word Memoir® Project, a bestselling series of nine books, board game, live event program, and a global phenomenon found in classrooms, conferences, and corporate settings alike.
Larry speaks on the power of personal storytelling across the world. He has been invited to work with teams at Twitter, Levi’s, JPMorgan Chase, Snapchat, Dell, Yelp, Shutterfly, ESPN and Google; nonprofits including the Zen Hospice Project and Dress For Success, as well as foundations, philanthropies, and schools. He’s a frequent speaker at conferences such as TEDx, PopTech, Summit Series (called “Davos for the Millennials”), the AARP 50+ Convention. He teaches the class, “What’s Your Story? How to Deliver an Authentic Elevator Pitch” in private sessions and on-site at companies.
Prior to founding the Six-Word Memoir project, Larry had a robust career in journalism. He was articles editor of Men’s Journal, executive editor of Yahoo! Internet Life, senior editor at ESPN The Magazine, a founding editor of P.O.V. and editor-in-chief of its sister publication, EGG. While living in San Francisco, he was managing editor of the wire/syndication service AlterNet and an editor at Dave Eggers' Might Magazine. His writing has appeared in The New York Times, ESPN Magazine, Popular Science, Men’s Health, Salon, Slate, Buzzfeed, and has contributed essays to many anthologies, including Modern Love: 50 True and Extraordinary Tales of Desire, Deceit, and Devotion and The End of the Golden Gate: Writers on Loving and (Sometimes) Leaving San Francisco.
He lives in Berkeley, CA, with his wife, the writer Piper Kerman, and their son.
Ratings & Reviews
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
September 15, 2024
CONNECTIONS is comprised of two chapbooks by two different gifted haiku writers combined into one collection. I loved the combination of these two voices!
*August 2024 Reread in progress
Full Review: Thank you to the authors Larry Smith and Barbara Sabol and publishers Bird Dog Publishing for a reader's copy of CONNECTIONS. All views are mine.
Fly at my lamplight
starting the day with a buzz.
Am I any better?
My shoes by the front door
waiting to be filled and tied. p9, Smith
This beautiful collection of poetry is actually a combination of related chapbooks by these two poets: Morning Dew: tanka by Larry Smith and core & all: haiku by Barbara Sabol.
Smith is a friend of mine and leads my writing group. So when he offered me a copy of this book for review, I leapt at it. I'm glad I did, as this collection is beautiful and invites multiple reads.
I love how much Smith writes about riding his bike. And yes, it's the beauty of his environment and the rewards of his effort, but it is also Too long without a drink p12 or the repeated edge of the road. He writes with such depth when he writes about this activity and his poetic turns are treasures. When I get to trail end, / I turn right around. Why? p14, Smith.
Smith has such an eye for nature, and he absolutely reveals quotidian topics for their complexity. From the sweet dark earth / cicada wake to their labor, / leaving children behind. // Their message in their song / of sayonara. p17 As a fan of interpretation, I have generated half a dozen different meanings for "Their message." He makes me love these noisy creatures that hug my backyard trees more than I already did. He makes me love nature because it is full of *his* wonder.
But he doesn't only write about nature, when he writes about nature. In these reflections, he finds and describes what might be most elusive about us humans. A line of sparrows / along the railroad track– / trusting vibrations. // Two girls scurry across / breathing hard and quick. p21. These stories he tells about us, the tamest animals, and our distant family members circling all around us.
The way he turns a haiku to show us our nature and wild nature standing at each of our shoulders – well, it's awesome. His turns also reveal. His turns taught me the potential of the haiku.
I don't know Barbara Stabol as I do Larry Smith, but her work is even more efficient than Smith's. It might be what is most remarkable about her poetry. Here is the first haiku in her half of the collection, one of my favorites: the bellbird / spreads her wings— / aubade p51, Sabol. That is concise! And totally gorgeous!
Sabol writes many haiku about her young daughter, stunning observations because they are both sweet and brief: ballet class / her bat pose / at the bar p55. These poems are her most powerful, and they emerge throughout her collection, pulling the poems around them into a cohesive unit. Beautiful poetry.
I love that Sabol eschews tradition with the placement of her turns, which are potent. Here is a wonderful example where the linguistic turn occurs at the beginning of the second line: lambing / clouds deliver / new snow p52. Just a gorgeous use of the words here. Such economy, humor, and imagination!
Sabol approaches haiku form creatively as well. Her forms do not adhere to strict line and syllable requirements. She shares haiku that are two lines, or one line. Some fall far short of the traditional syllable count of seventeen syllables: five / seven / five. Some of her lines stagger across the page and several lines. She *demands* of this form and definitely gets it. She changed the way I see haiku, a flexible form, not a rigid one! I'm excited to try this form again in my own writing.
Both poets, Larry Smith and Barbara Sabol, have contributed beautiful and moving poems to this collection. And in both cases, what smart and poetic displays of the form!
Thank you Larry Smith and Bottom Dog Press for my copy.
Reading Notes:
Three (or more) things I loved:
1. In Smith's Morning Dew: tankas, I love that Smith sets many of the poems in the first line or two. The orientation always adds a deeper meaning to the piece than just a sensual one. These are valuable syllables he relinquishes to locate the reader in space, and the effect carries perfect weight.
2. So. Many. Birds! Wonderful.
Top 3, MORNING DEW:
1. p27
2. p9
3. p32
Top 3, core & all
1. p102, bottom
2. p86, bottom
3. p104, top
Rating: 📜📜📜📜📜 /5 haiku
Recommend? Yes!
Finished: Sep 8 '24
Format: Paperback, Bird Dog Publishing
Read this book if you like:
🪶 poetry
👨👩👧👦 family stories
👩👦 mothers and daughters
🌲 nature
🪽 birds
🏡 slice of life
*August 2024 Reread in progress
Full Review: Thank you to the authors Larry Smith and Barbara Sabol and publishers Bird Dog Publishing for a reader's copy of CONNECTIONS. All views are mine.
Fly at my lamplight
starting the day with a buzz.
Am I any better?
My shoes by the front door
waiting to be filled and tied. p9, Smith
This beautiful collection of poetry is actually a combination of related chapbooks by these two poets: Morning Dew: tanka by Larry Smith and core & all: haiku by Barbara Sabol.
Smith is a friend of mine and leads my writing group. So when he offered me a copy of this book for review, I leapt at it. I'm glad I did, as this collection is beautiful and invites multiple reads.
I love how much Smith writes about riding his bike. And yes, it's the beauty of his environment and the rewards of his effort, but it is also Too long without a drink p12 or the repeated edge of the road. He writes with such depth when he writes about this activity and his poetic turns are treasures. When I get to trail end, / I turn right around. Why? p14, Smith.
Smith has such an eye for nature, and he absolutely reveals quotidian topics for their complexity. From the sweet dark earth / cicada wake to their labor, / leaving children behind. // Their message in their song / of sayonara. p17 As a fan of interpretation, I have generated half a dozen different meanings for "Their message." He makes me love these noisy creatures that hug my backyard trees more than I already did. He makes me love nature because it is full of *his* wonder.
But he doesn't only write about nature, when he writes about nature. In these reflections, he finds and describes what might be most elusive about us humans. A line of sparrows / along the railroad track– / trusting vibrations. // Two girls scurry across / breathing hard and quick. p21. These stories he tells about us, the tamest animals, and our distant family members circling all around us.
The way he turns a haiku to show us our nature and wild nature standing at each of our shoulders – well, it's awesome. His turns also reveal. His turns taught me the potential of the haiku.
I don't know Barbara Stabol as I do Larry Smith, but her work is even more efficient than Smith's. It might be what is most remarkable about her poetry. Here is the first haiku in her half of the collection, one of my favorites: the bellbird / spreads her wings— / aubade p51, Sabol. That is concise! And totally gorgeous!
Sabol writes many haiku about her young daughter, stunning observations because they are both sweet and brief: ballet class / her bat pose / at the bar p55. These poems are her most powerful, and they emerge throughout her collection, pulling the poems around them into a cohesive unit. Beautiful poetry.
I love that Sabol eschews tradition with the placement of her turns, which are potent. Here is a wonderful example where the linguistic turn occurs at the beginning of the second line: lambing / clouds deliver / new snow p52. Just a gorgeous use of the words here. Such economy, humor, and imagination!
Sabol approaches haiku form creatively as well. Her forms do not adhere to strict line and syllable requirements. She shares haiku that are two lines, or one line. Some fall far short of the traditional syllable count of seventeen syllables: five / seven / five. Some of her lines stagger across the page and several lines. She *demands* of this form and definitely gets it. She changed the way I see haiku, a flexible form, not a rigid one! I'm excited to try this form again in my own writing.
Both poets, Larry Smith and Barbara Sabol, have contributed beautiful and moving poems to this collection. And in both cases, what smart and poetic displays of the form!
Thank you Larry Smith and Bottom Dog Press for my copy.
Reading Notes:
Three (or more) things I loved:
1. In Smith's Morning Dew: tankas, I love that Smith sets many of the poems in the first line or two. The orientation always adds a deeper meaning to the piece than just a sensual one. These are valuable syllables he relinquishes to locate the reader in space, and the effect carries perfect weight.
2. So. Many. Birds! Wonderful.
Top 3, MORNING DEW:
1. p27
2. p9
3. p32
Top 3, core & all
1. p102, bottom
2. p86, bottom
3. p104, top
Rating: 📜📜📜📜📜 /5 haiku
Recommend? Yes!
Finished: Sep 8 '24
Format: Paperback, Bird Dog Publishing
Read this book if you like:
🪶 poetry
👨👩👧👦 family stories
👩👦 mothers and daughters
🌲 nature
🪽 birds
🏡 slice of life
November 2, 2022
beautifully strung words
What I like about this poetry is the absence of temporal constraint. Larry Smith and Barbara Sabol have combined their artistry to connect with readers in a delightfully succinct form of writing that has me wanting to read more of the same. I am somehow left with floating images of simplicity, multisensorial
reminiscences and tranquil reflections. I will read this again and again.
What I like about this poetry is the absence of temporal constraint. Larry Smith and Barbara Sabol have combined their artistry to connect with readers in a delightfully succinct form of writing that has me wanting to read more of the same. I am somehow left with floating images of simplicity, multisensorial
reminiscences and tranquil reflections. I will read this again and again.
July 5, 2025
I really wanted to like this book, but it just didn’t work for me. It was a disappointing read.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews