HCSHR 6:16 - Robert Witmer, Serendipity

Witmer, Robert. Serendipity. Allahabad, India: Cyberwit.et, 2023. 978-93-95224-52-9. 100 pages, perfect bound 5.5”x8”, $15 US. www.cyberwit.net

 

Review by Dave Read

 

In his foreword, Robert Witmer defines his book’s title, Serendipity, as “Making happy and unexpected discoveries” (p 5). He shares his experiences so his reader may find how a “sense of wonder keeps our eyes open” (p 5). Throughout the book’s 100 pages, Witmer touches on a wide variety of topics via skillfully written haibun and haiku sequences.

 

Serendipity opens with several haibun and several more appear near the end of the book.  Many of these poems focus on travel.  In “Rain”, the book’s first haibun, Witmer discusses his cycling trip from Chicago to Clearwater, and the enormous rainfall that accompanied this journey.  Towards the end of “Rain”, Witmer remembers the advice of the Buddha.  While rain falls on all plants, “each grows in its own way” (p 9).  Furthermore, having received his share of rain, Witmer believes “the heavens had watered me in accordance with my needs so that I might be lifted, joyous and exuberant” (p 9).  This spirit is reflected in the concluding haiku:

 

        rain rinsed air

        spilling sunlight

        in the steady stream

 

The wonder of travel can also be found in “The Women in Leh”, which examines the spiritual value of Tibetan turquoise.  The locals believe in the powers of this jewel.  Indeed, its “blue-green colour brings heaven to earth” and it is a “token of love that protects both giver and receiver” (p 14):

 

        turquoise talisman

        the heaven we can buy

        ground to the bone

 

Furthermore, Witmer shows respect for local cultures.  He argues that “The good traveler takes only pictures and leaves only footprints” (p 14).  A traveler should leave a place as he or she finds it, with only pictures and memories as souvenirs.

 

Witmer’s poetry also finds wonder through humour.  The power of humour can be expressed by the way it, often unexpectedly, shines light on human foibles.  In one of many quotations included in Serendipity, Witmer, at the beginning of his senryu sequence “The Soul of Wit”, quotes G.K. Chesterton: “Humour can get in under the door while seriousness is still fumbling at the handle” (p 43).  Many of Witmer’s senryu absolutely get in under the door. Consider:

 

        shadows move across the floor

        happily drunk

        I moon the moon (p 46)

 

        falling stars

        the light goes out

        on the basement stairs (p 46)

 

        receding wave

        the old surfer’s

        hairline (p 50)

 

All these poems exhibit the lightness of the best senryu.  Poetry like this is fun, easy, and does not take itself too seriously.  Many of the funniest senryu have more in common with memes than conventional Western poetry.  These, by Witmer, certainly fit that bill.

 

As good as Witmer is with senryu, he is, arguably, at his best writing haiku that tackle the topic of aging.  His sequence, “Generations of Leaves”, includes many poems with this theme.  Subtle and strong, Witmer muscles out several powerful haiku:

 

        a silent nightingale in her throat cancer (p 68)

 

        the sea roars

        in an empty shell

        dementia (p 69)

 

        gravel

        at the end of the road

        father’s voice (p 70)

 

The first of these, “a silent nightingale” is possibly the best haiku in this book. (It previously appeared in skipping stones: The Red Moon Anthology of English Language Haiku). Whether the subject of this poem was a singer or someone who had a melodious speaking voice, “her throat cancer” has subdued her “nightingale”, leaving the poor woman in silence.  Witmer has created a moving statement of the changes and the shortcomings that unfortunately come with time.

 

Robert Witmer’s Serendipity is an excellent book of haibun and haiku sequences that encourages its reader to be open to the wonder of the unexpected.  I recommend this book to readers of all forms of poetry.

 *****

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