Playing Tag Among Buddhas

First published in Woodnotes #15, Winter 1992, page 34.

Playing Tag Among Buddhas, 1992 HPNC members’ anthology edited and introduced by Jerry Kilbride. Two Autumns Press, 1992, 36 pages, paperback, 5½ by 8½ inches. $5.75 postpaid from Ebba Story, 478 Guerrero Street, San Francisco, California, 94110 [address no longer correct]. This engaging book displays 70 haiku and senryu by as many HPNC [Haiku Poets of Northern California] members. Unlike HPNC’s two previous members’ anthologies, this one has no set theme, yet the editor has skillfully grouped poems in surprising and enriching combinations. Poems are arranged one to three per page, with the hometown of each member listed with his or her name. Any member who submitted poems was guaranteed to have a poem included. Yet in spite of the possibility that the quality of poems might waver as a result, this book presents a remarkable number of excellent haiku, and is a testament to the fine quality of haiku being written by members of the Haiku Poets of Northern California. Many thanks to Jerry Kilbride for devoting so much love, energy, and editorial insight to this much-anticipated book. Two choice selections:

day’s end

a hiker slows to watch

the rushing ants

Helen J. Sherry

cloudberries:

tasting

the word

Jerry Kilbride