After Lights Out

First published in Woodnotes #30, Autumn 1996, page 49.

After Lights Out by the Spring Street Haiku Group. 1996, 28 pages, paperback, 4 by 5½ inches. $3.00 postpaid from Dee Evetts, 102 Forsyth Street #18, New York, New York 10002 [address no longer correct]. As with previous anthologies (all fine collections) from the Spring Street Haiku Group in New York, the poems in After Lights Out are arranged in a seemingly random order. In his introduction, Dee Evetts explains that the order of appearance is indeed randomized by the drawing of names from a hat (Mykel Board’s fedora, actually). There is nothing random about the quality of the poems, however, and I highly recommend this annual collection featuring 13 dedicated haiku poets from New York. Samples from Karen Sohne and Carl Patrick:

steps cut into the stone

in each corner

petals

reflected in

the cop’s dark shades

fireworks