Customer Reviews

Blush of Winter Moon

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4 star:		(1)
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I've read this book over and over, and I find something new each time. For readers unfamiliar with Haiku, this would be a wonderful beginning. But these Haiku poems are not just beginner material. The most experienced enthusiast will fully enjoy and treasure this work. Written in the traditional 5-7-5 form, the poems are sensitive and simple expressions of delight, sadness, love and beauty. Ms. Machmiller's work is complemented by a sprinkling of calligraphy and art throughout. If you've forgotten how beautiful the world can be, read this book. Also a great gift idea.

Patricia Machmiller is one of the foremost English-language writers of traditional-form haiku. Each of her poems contains a reference to a season and is written in three lines of 5, 7, and 5 syllables. Ms. Machmiller deftly uses the seasonal reference to underpin the mood of a poem. Each haiku in this beautifully produced book invites the reader to share the author's deeply felt experience. This book will bring joy to experienced and inexperienced haiku readers alike. A few examples from the book follow:

just looking at it
you wouldn't guess there is a
dark side -- winter moon

closet of white clothes
whiter in summer moonlight
whiter than a vow

late night eatery --
neon lights give the waiter
the look of winter

Patricia Machmiller has a command of the traditional Haiku form that is both unusual and delightful. Her knowledge of its requiremnts makes each poem seasonally aware. Her words do more than describe the beauty and color of nature; they also join movement and imagination. The reader is left with a melding of joy and sadness, just as the title conveys. This book, in form, content and design, is exceptional.

Yep, I really mean it. I have read this wonderful book 3 times and each time brings me more pleasure. The author is a master at the art and craft of this most delicate form of poetry. It is sheer beauty laid gently down on a piece of paper. This book was a gift from a friend and I must say it has reawakened my interest in poetry after a long dormant period. Don't wait - beg, borrow or steal a copy. It is an especially good read on these cold winter nights when you see a "Blush of Winter Moon".

blushing winter moon
revealed by floating clouds
awakens my interest

This haiku is not from the book. Rather, it is my feeble attempt to pay some tribute to the author. I am without talent, but greatly inspired.

The title of this beautiful book gives some hint of the delicate, subtle, imaginative nature of it. From the aesthetics of the arrangement of the poems on the page with the versions of the Japanese of these simple, yet wonderful haiku as illustrations to the perfect images of nature in these haiku, even a non-Japanese speaking, non-expert haiku reader, as I am, can experience deep satisfaction and even joy from reading it. Some of the haiku made me teary eyed in fact. Her family life, humorous modern references, and her interior life are all here. I encourage you to try it as your first haiku book, as it was mine, and I encourage Patricia Machmiller to give us another subtle delicacy.

The first reading was great. The second even better. I look forward to the third.