Selected Haiku

by Nicholas A. Virgilio

Genres: Poetry

Paperback

Published January 1, 1988

Reviews

[Quentin Ferrari · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great collection of haiku that broke one of my key preconceptions about the form, that "a bejewelled finger distracts from what it points at". Virgilio loves the music of a good haiku and makes that music work thematically, the first examples that come to mind are:

now the days are long
through the blazing heat and haze:
sprays of sparrow song

And the battle between insidious "sss" sounds and the harsh "ck" sounds here:

the sack of kittens
sinking in the icy creek
increases the cold

Other than that, you'll get unique, rough and non-syllabic haiku that contain razor sharp insights, the work of a true master of the form who can access and elicit any emotion through vivid images.
Is every poem here great? No. But the consistency of quality is incredible, and out of the 98% of good poems he consistantly reaches mind-bendingly high highs that beg the uninitiated to think nothing of them; poems like

bass
picking bugs
off the moon

And

the blind musician
extending an old tin cup
collects a snowflake

Get this now. It is incredible. I can't say Virgilio is the best haiku poet ever, but i can say with absolute certainty that there is no english language haiku poet that is better.

[Helena Flo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nicholas Anthony Virgilio (June 28, 1928 – January 3, 1989) was an internationally recognized haiku poet who is credited with helping to popularize the Japanese style of poetry in the United States.

I enjoy the gutsiness of Virgilio's poetry. His brother was killed in the Vietnam War and many of his haiku are about the shock and grief of losing his brother:

telegram in hand,
the shadow of the marine
darkens our screen door

flag-covered coffin:
the shadow of the bugler
slips into the grave

autumn twilight:
the wreath on the door
lifts in the wind

I think the strength of Virgilio's poems is that he remembers the forgotten:

where cattle graze
near the grassy battleground:
the grave mounds of slaves

This classic collection of Virgilio's work is out of print now, but Turtle Light Press published a volume in 2012 -- Nick Virgilio: A Life in Haiku -- that features many of his classic haiku, as well as interviews and essays.

[Kristyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Many haiku in this collection struck me. The ones about his brother after his death were very poignant, and the sequence "Litany for the Dead" was intense, in spite of knowing what the last line would be.

Then other haiku were more observational. I quite liked this one:

Easter morning...
the sermon is taking the shape
of her neighbor's hat

[Michael Morris · Rating 5 out of 5]

With this book, I did something I rarely do: when I was finished, I went back to the beginning and read each poem a second time. I wasn't ready yet to let go of the experience of these profound and moving pieces.

[Brandon Favre · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent collection of top-notch American haiku.

[Isak · Rating 5 out of 5]

An American master.

beyond empty pews
darkened to a dying candle:
a bell tolls and tolls

[Brenya G · Rating 5 out of 5]

The retarded boy asks,
“Do you own this?”
The muddy creek

[Henry Brann · Rating 5 out of 5]

Selected Haiku by Virgilio puts the lie to cutesy 17 syllable so called 'haiku'. Many poems in this book are seventeen syllables such as;

the sack of kittens
tossed into the icy creek
increases the cold

And are not, as you can see, cutesy. Many are elegiac, noting the death of his brother, Larry, in Vietnam, e.g.

deep in rank grass
through a bullet-riddled helmet
an unknown flower

He mines the humor from otherwise mean urban scenes as in

hookers on the bus
knitting booties
discuss reaganomics

and philosophical posers such as

lily;
out of the water. . .
out of itself.

[Donald]

A lot of real gems from one of the pioneers of English Language Haiku.
I thoroughly enjoyed the selection and would highly recommend it.