HCSHR 2:4: William Scott Galasso, Mixed Bag: A Travelogue in Four Forms

William Scott Galasso, Mixed Bag: A Travelogue in Four Forms, Laguna Woods, CA: Galwin Press, 2018. ISBN: 978-1-7327527-2-2. 190 pp. $10.00 US Amazon.com

Mixed Bag, by William Scott Galasso, is a travelogue written through haibun, haiku sequences, short free verse poems, and tanka. Focusing primarily on “poetry of place”, most of the work in this collection is set within specific North American, European, and Japanese locations. Galasso, utilizing four poetic forms, spins narratives, gathers pictures, becomes philosophical, and examines memory while taking his readers along through his journeys.

Galasso is a good writer of haibun, and uses the form to explore memory and to recount stories of his travels. “Paper Route 1960” provides a look back at being a paperboy and the relationship he developed with an elderly lady, Mrs. B. The narrative is clear and engaging, and the haiku are effective in supplementing the prose:

daybreak
the slow glide
of seven swans

Although this poem has no direct relationship to his job as paperboy, it creates a picture that augments his positive outlook about earning “a little money, while enjoying fine summer weather.” The opening line “daybreak” emphasizes that he was young in his life. The haiku’s conclusion, “the slow glide of seven swans”, creates a sense of peace and movement that represent Galasso’s feelings about being a paperboy without directly mentioning it. This is an effective haibun due both to the quality of writing and the interesting way the prose and haiku work off each other.

Similarly, the haibun “Kappelbruke Spiders” is a strong narrative written about Switzerland. Here, Galasso discusses crossing a bridge that was built in 1333. He notes that “For an American, it is incredible to walk on a wooden bridge that predates the European discovery of the Americas by 150 years.” Noticing the spider webs in the bridge’s beams, Galasso reflects upon the generations of spiders also tied to the past. He becomes philosophical in observing the link of a “dim past, with a dim future whose connection was the moment.”

A great many poetic snapshots are gathered throughout Mixed Bag. Galasso collects these images, to a large extent, through his haiku sequences. He not only creates pictures of places, he uses specific imagery as a means of articulating something of their history. Take, for example, two of the haiku from the sequence “Sojourn South (Georgia, South Carolina)”:

Tybee Island,
the spartina swaying
beneath egret wings

moonlight on cabins
of the old slave street
low moan of wind

The first haiku creates an image of Tybee Island. One can clearly visualize the sway of spartina beneath an egret’s wings. The second haiku is more historic in intent. It reminds us of the American South’s history of slavery while also, subtlety, letting us know that history still haunts in the form of the “low moan of wind”.

Yet Galasso is not without humour in his haiku. From his sequence “Italia”:

On the top
of Pisa’s leaning tower
bees and vertigo

What begins as a simple image of the leaning tower of Pisa becomes amusing with the last word of the poem, “vertigo”. Our human frailties and weaknesses can sometimes be exposed even in visiting world renowned tourist destinations.

Galasso also includes many short free verse poems in his book, some of which continue to be poems of place. Take for example:

After Sandy (Elegy for Paumonok*)

the sea recalls
not only the names
written in sand
but the dunes
which in youth
hid our lovemaking

(*Paumonok: the big fish; Native American term for Long Island, NY)

“After Sandy” reflects upon the destruction Hurricane Sandy left in its wake in the US Northeast in 2012. Here, Galasso uses personification for the sea. The sea “recalls” both “the names written in sand” and “the dunes which in youth hid our lovemaking”. While the poem is written in third person, it leaves the impression that Galasso is empowering the sea to remember the very things most important to him about Long Island before it suffered the hurricane’s wrath.

Most of Galasso’s short free verse poems depart a little from the bulk of the book in that they are not strictly tied to a sense of place. Instead, they tend to be meditative or philosophical in outlook. At their best, these poems are poignant and moving. Take, for example:

Giving Thanks

In the time
when apples ripen,
when leaves wear
brazen scarlet or
mimic fool’s gold
and pumpkins make
faces at passers-by,
I walk at sunset in air
that smells of snow,
just to fill my lungs
an ocean deep and breathe,
just breathe

“Giving Thanks” is clearly set in autumn and includes many images of fall that occur around the time of Thanksgiving. Yet it is also a poem about aging. Galasso notices the various changes autumn, symbolic of middle age, bring. He accepts these changes, expresses a sense of gratitude, and attempts to take it all in by filling his lungs and just breathing.

The tanka of Mixed Bag weave through a variety of themes including imagination, loneliness, memory, and sentimentality. While many of the poems seem to be reflections upon Galasso’s own life, some provide observations that turn into social commentary. There are instances where the tanka, juxtaposed, draw interesting comparisons:

found cassette,
after thirty years
Mom sings again
her joy so obvious
I smile through tears

Steel-caged children—
whimpering for mothers
or fathers imprisoned too
for the crime of wanting
what we have forgotten

While both of these tanka are about parents and children, they are very different in terms of their tone and the impact they have on the reader. The first poem is sentimental and happy. It is about the simple joy of rediscovery. The second tanka, written in response to the humanitarian crisis at the US southern border, is heartbreaking. The refugees are imprisoned and the children are separated from their parents. Only guilty of “wanting what we have forgotten”, the people seeking asylum are simply trying to provide their families what Americans (and Canadians) take for granted. Galasso, here, is emotionally honest and raw. In sharing a contrast between his fortunes and the misfortunes of others, Galasso has created greater power than simply writing of either in isolation.

Despite the many strengths of Mixed Bag, the book does have three shortfalls. First, many of the haibun include haiku that, rather than supplement the prose by providing something different, merely retell what the prose has already stated.  Take, for example, ““Card Flipping Boys of Summer”. Here, the prose gives a nice, clear description of a game of chance played by boys in Long Island. The game had different variations but involved turning over baseball cards. As the size of the pot grew, so did the tension. The prose does a great job of describing the game and setting up the narrative. The haiku, however, was disappointing as it merely provided a summary:

flipping baseball cards,
turning ever more slowly
as the pot grows

The haibun would have been stronger had Galasso found a way to give another angle through the concluding haiku. Granted, in his introduction, Galasso described the use of haiku in haibun as having “a direct or subtle relationship with the prose and encompass or hint at the gist of what is recorded in the prose sections.” He is, therefore, consist with his own definition. However, his haibun, and haibun in general, which use haiku to augment the prose tend to be more effective.

The second shortfall of Mixed Bag was that the haiku in the haiku sequences were sometimes inconsistent in quality. Galasso frequently made two errors in these poems. Sometimes, he underutilized articles:

full moon
orchid’s shadow
on the blue wall

This is not a bad poem. However, not including “an” before “orchid’s shadow” is disruptive to its reading. This haiku would have flowed much smoother with the article’s addition. Also, many of Galasso’s haiku read like lists:

indigo sky
crescent moon
laboured breathing

The idea behind this poem is clever, but it does not come through. As it stands, the haiku has three disjointed parts, and is without a phrase. Changing the last two lines to “the crescent moon’s laboured breathing” would result in a much better poem.

Finally, the last shortfall of Mixed Bag came in the overuse of clichés:

Corporate America …

is a fat man,
with a stogie
clamped in
bulbous lips.

Galasso is a talented and unique writer. He does not need to utilize these types of common images.

Mixed Bag is a good book of poetry that takes us through Galasso’s many travels, experiences, and philosophies. The book’s few weaknesses are certainly overcome by its many strengths. Galasso effectively makes use of haibun, haiku sequences, short free verse poems, and tanka to showcase his world of adventure.

Review by Dave Read
davereadpoetry.blogspot.ca