HCSHR 3:7 — Brad Bennett, A Turn in The River
HCSHR 3:7 — Brad Bennett, A Turn in The River. Winchester, VA: Red Moon Press, 2019. ISBN: 978-1-947271-44-9. 102 pages; 4.25" x 6.5"; $15 US. redmoonpress.com
reviewed
by Maxianne Berger
Readers might
recognize Brad Bennett’s name because a haiku of his is among the Honourable
Mentions in Haiku Canada’s 2020 Betty Drevniok awards. His A Turn in The River offers
aspects of life that I, as a city dweller, would experience infrequently –
perhaps on a vacation or a day trip to the country. Bennett’s writing is mostly
shasei, with kigo and kire, and a revelation on the third line. These
poems flow through the seasons as naturally as the world moves around the sun. Here
are some that give me pause, still, as I reread them.
Notice how he
conveys a bit of summer breeze without naming it.
day lilies
a garden pinwheel
starts and stops
a garden pinwheel
starts and stops
The line break
after line 2 adds so much to this autumn haiku.
fallen leaves . . .
no one passes by
quietly
no one passes by
quietly
How deftly the poet
surprises us with sound – and does so with the word “quietly”! As to winter,
the dreariness of days comes through here.
winter rain
tea bag strings
all tangled up
tea bag strings
all tangled up
How many cups of
tea as pick-me-ups are needed when it feels as if sunshine is taking too long? Why
does my mind jump to Elliot’s Prufrock who has “measured out [his] life with
coffee spoons”? But spring does come eventually, and the cyclical nature of
life is here readily apparent.
a hole
in last year’s oriole nest
spring sky
in last year’s oriole nest
spring sky
Bennett is also a
teacher, and the whimsy of this schoolyard scene is lovely.
autumn light
the school garden scarecrow
wears a tutu
the school garden scarecrow
wears a tutu
Not all of
Bennett’s poems describe nature. This monostich, one of several, plays on a
smiley.
emoji pajamas the child’s grin
It happens that I
like to see a bit of grit, on occasion, among the shining moments. This New
Year’s haiku comes closest.
New Year’s Eve
the waitress asks
if we want change
the waitress asks
if we want change
However, since I
write this while still sheltering in a city that is a major epicenter for the
pandemic, rather than to fault this collection for being too “nice,” I accept
it as a reminder of how lovely our world can be, and how reading these small
moments that Brad Bennett has captured in words can lead a reader – this reader
– to feeling better when it’s really needed.
The quality of the
poems in A Turn in The River has been recognized by The Haiku Foundation:
the collection was shortlisted for the 2019 Touchstone Distinguished Books
Award.
Maxianne Berger
May 2020
May 2020