Abandoned Farmhouse Review

by Robert Spiess

As with other Press Here books, Abandoned Farmhouse is aesthetically crafted, with two haiku on a page. The cover has an attractive drawing of a flock of Canada geese rising in flight from a grassy field. A two-page introduction by Edward summarizes the years of the farm on which he grew up until it was sold after having stood empty for several years. The first section, “Abandoned Farmhouse,” has eleven haiku, all beginning with “abandoned farmhouse”: and depicting details of what Edward finds when revisiting the abandoned farm.

abandoned farmhouse:

   blackened clothespins

         on a sagging line

abandoned farmhouse:

   a yellowed grocery list

         taped to the countertop

The second, longer part, “Other Haiku,” takes us through the seasons:

blue sky sliced

   by a cherry tree branch;

         clouds of blossoms

one brown leaf

   in the middle of the maple;

         her first cancer pains

tornado funnel;

   the child’s pinwheel

         faster and faster

January wind:

   an old farmer hides his face

         from the auctioneer

Edward Rielly treats us to a variety of experiences.