HCSHR 4:12 —three mini-chapbooks distributed by bottle rockets press
HCSHR 4:12 —three mini-chapbooks: Stanford M. Forrester/ Sekiro, orphan poems, bottle rockets press, 2018. 12 pages, 2 ¾ x 4; Michael Ketchek, rusty backstop, bottle rockets press, 2020. 12 pages, 2 ¾ x 4; Stanford M. Forrester, Staten Island, Nut Wagon Press, 2020. 12 pages, 2 ¾ x 4. Each: 3.50$US to USA, 4.00$US to Canada. 4.50$US to Asia and Europe. www.bottlerocketspress.com
review by Maxianne Berger
Those who know me well know I have a particular affinity for very little books, a probable holdover from the childhood delights of the miniature Little Little Golden classics. These three mini-chapbooks distributed by bottle rockets press appeal from the get-go for that very reason. And since there are so few poems in each book — nine in Michael Ketchek’s, ten each in Stanford M. Forrester’s — they would be selected with care.
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Forrester’s Orphan Poems are likely what the title indicates: there is no common theme beyond the intelligence that informs their making. These two happen to share rain.
Saturday morning
rain—
a driving lesson
with my father
all day drizzle . . .
how easy to smudge the ink
of a winter haiku
The cover has a small drawing of a birdhouse hanging from a branch — a symbol of home for poems that here deserve one.
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Ketchek’s Rusty Backstop has a little baseball symbol on the cover — a reverse likeness of this one ⚾ — and does include several haiku featuring baseball, of which, notably, the title poem.
rusty backstop
the abandoned infield
turning green
Where sports can be a metaphor for dealing with an opponent, there are many variations in these haiku, from survival in nature . . . to war . . . to survival in war.
candidate’s headquarters
the day after the election
all those silent phones
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The unifying theme to Forrester’s Staten Island would be the dichotomy of presence and absence.
buddha belly t-shirt
all the large sizes
sold out
mia for 20 years . . .
a toy soldier
in the sandbox
The cover, quite properly, features a small photo of the Staten Island Ferry.
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The haiku in these mini-chapbooks will rekindle any fond memories a reader might have of the pleasures of those miniature Little Golden Classics, and will newly charm those whose childhoods didn’t include them.
Maxianne Berger
April 2021
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