Stone's Throw: Promises of Mere Words

Gary Hotham's new haiku offering is a masterwork, echoing the Japanese masters-Bashõ, Buson, Issa of the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries-yet with his own originality, themes, and lightness: "our bare feet / next to each other / next to the ocean" The classic elements (nature, poignancy, calm) are here: "in season / more butterflies / than afternoon plans" "her garden / the watering can left / in the rain" In Stone's Throw, as with his previous books (Breath Marks and Spilled Milk), we're treated to the resonant depth of his images, his watchful clarity: "the lifeguard gone- / the sound of the ocean / reaching land" "drippings from a light rain- / the only light I have on / the only light for the moth" "Poignancy. The word never appears in haiku, yet it is what they live by. The doors we notice opening on light that goes out, and yet was enough. Here is another feast of glimpses from an acknowledged master of noticing."-Les Murray, Australian Poet