|
evolution: The Red Moon Anthology of English-Language Haiku 2010, edited by Jim Kacian and the Red Moon Editorial staff, is the fourteenth annual anthology in the ongoing series from Red Moon Press that presents the "finest haiku and related forms published around the world." At 119 poems, 16 haibun and renga, and 6 essays, this anthology is a bit slimmer than previous years' collections (the 2009 anthology included 161 poems).
The haiku and senryu felt more selective than previous years', both in numbers and imagery. I noticed an abundance of poems concerning: stars, moon, death, graves, and hospitals. I wouldn't go so far as to say that it becomes redundant—rather, it may be telling what kind of year the poets had as part of the community and in their personal lives—but enough to make these reoccurring images noticeable. It admittedly amused me when I came across several haiku that incorporated several of the images; however, it also makes for a powerful, rich poem:
On the one hand, it makes for a seemingly cohesive collection, but on the other, despite the quality of each poem, those within the dominant themes and images become muted if the reader reads through too quickly. Meanwhile, those that don't include these reoccurring images stand out and attract more attention. Personally, I can never read enough poems about astral bodies and mortality, but some may find the amount of reoccurring images within one collection tiresome. To those people, I say reap the benefits of anthologies—read a little now, put the book down, and come back to it for a little more later.
And although a lot of the poems in this anthology are somber and/or contemplative, especially with the reoccurring images, there's a good dash of humor among them:
Essentially, for me, the Red Moon Anthology feels like a reunion or haiku yearbook—I'm always eager to see familiar names and poems, or be reminded of haiku I had fallen in love with earlier in the year. For example, I was delighted to see the reappearance of my personal favorites from 2010 such as:
And the winner of The Haiku Foundation's Facebook contest:
With so many poems published within a given year, it's almost impossible to catch everything. So it's not unusual to come across a poem or two that I otherwise may have never gotten the chance to read:
I'm not sure how I missed either of these poems before, but they're easily two of my favorites that were new to me. They both have a playful essence that breathes light into the first section fo the anthology.
Usually, I'm not all that enthusiastic nor optimistic about the linking forms section of the Red Moon Anthology. In my opinion, it's usually the weakest part of the anthology, but this year's collection pleasantly surprised me with works such as Graham High's "Art Class" and the renga "Cry of the Peacock" by Angelee Deodhar, Izak Brouwer, and Angela Sumegi. Overall, the work was just better than what I remember from 2009's anthology. Typically, I skim through them and look for names I know or anything that looks unique, but with a good dose of haibun from Ray Rassmusen, Roberta Beary, and Lee Gurga, the linked forms section for 2010 display quality work by quality poets aware and skilled in their craft.
Equally, I'm typically on the fence about the essays, but those within evolution have a nice balance between focus on individual poets' work and haiku writing. From examining the positives and negatives of contemporary English-language haiku conventions in Lucas' "Haiku as Poetic Spell" to Trumbull's "Shangri-La: James W. Hackett's Life in Haiku," the selected essays play off the anthology's title. I would argue that we as poets are in a constant state of revision and development, but over the last year in particular, every time I turn around, there has been a push for a change in haiku, or to raise haiku awareness. Poets continue to push the boundaries and experiment with haiku, as seen in the title poem:
At first, I wasn't too sure about how I felt about this, as a poem or as he source for the title. But the more I read it, the more I feel it's fitting in its own way. It's a little different, but it's a poem that makes me want to come back again and again to look further into it.
In a collection such as the Red Moon Anthologies, rereadability is key. Each piece needs to be able to stand on its own after multiple reads. Most of the works in evolution do this. Not all of them, but in rereading the anthology to write this review, I found the overall collection as enjoyable as the first time I read it.
|
