VICTOR P GENDRANO: RUSTLE OF BAMBOO LEAVES Lulu Enterprises Inc. 3131 RDU Center Suite 210 Morrisville NC 27560 USA ISBN 1 4116 6215 6 $19 + postage visit the website of Lulu Enterprise Inc. email the author Web design by This page last updated: 10th December 2007. |
VICTOR P GENDRANO: RUSTLE OF BAMBOO LEAVES | |
The haiku a wildflower blooms in the rotten stump home on paroleis followed by four pages of critique by James W Hackett who attempts to answer the age old question of "what is the spirit of haiku" Other haiku are commented on by Susumu Takaguji and others — mostly within the context of an internet forum. The comments illustrate the kind of feedback and constructive criticism one finds in such fora. After a while though they do tend to become over-bearing and it is good to find a section of haiku without comments Several haiku are illustrated by Angelee Deodhar, Ashe Wood and others. Gendrano is a Filipino and there is one section of haiku in English and Tagalog, the language of the Philippines, preceded by two examples of the "tanaga" a short four-line form written in the Philippines from the 1500s. There is a fourteen-page section with a selection of senryu. Despite a somewhat vacuous introduction by Susumu Takaguchi, it is a good mix of comic and tragic pieces and very satisfying:late autumn sale the chemo patient picks a blonde wig summer cleanup in her daughter's room a box of condomsLess satisfying are a number of haiku sequences, but then we come to some interesting haibun and quite excellent tanka. The poet also explores sijo and the cinquain and produces this CINQUAIN TRILOGY Because I showed my grief you were surprised yet knew there's inner hurt gnawing inside my soul. But then aren't we forced by social norms to hide our fears lest our loved ones suffer from them? I take my manly role seriously as I can. Yet do they know that I also feel pain?There is a lot packed into this book of over 220 pages. Is there too much? Perhaps. Should it have been more severely edited? Probably. Would I recommend this book anyway? Certainly. | ||
reviewer: Mandy Smith. |