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Author's
Books
Gary Hotham’s
most recent book is entitled
Breath
Marks: Haiku to Read in the Dark.
(Canon Press, 2000)
It
can be purchased at a bookstore near you or at the following website:
http://www.canonpress.org/pages/literature.asp
As
Far As The Light Goes
(Juniper Press, 1996)
Bare
Feet (Longhouse,
1998)
Before
All the Leaves Are Gone (Juniper
Press, 1996)
Footprints
& Fingerprints
(Modest Proposal, 1999)
Off
and On Rain
(High/Coo, 1978)
Without
the Mountains
(Yiqralo Press, 1976)
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Reader
Response Essay
Hotham’s
haiku often depicts an interesting and clever situation. Frequently,
his haiku creates a scene, which makes sense, but is not particularly
a daily occurrence for an individual.
stalled car.
foot tracks being filled
with snow
(Haiku
Anthology 83)
This haiku paints
such a striking picture. The perspective does not come from the
driver. Instead, the writer seems to be just an observer of the
situation and the beauty of the moment.
This haiku places
the reader right in the moment described. It is as if I am standing
by the stalled car and straining to figure out where exactly the
footsteps lead.
The tracks are
currently being filled so the path is unclear. Of course, being
a great haiku there are many questions left unanswered. Where is
the driver? Were there passengers? What is wrong with the car? How
long has it been snowing? Did the car stall because of the snow?
When will the driver return? Will the tracks become completely filled?
What time of day is it? The possible questions arising from different
reader’s interpretations of the haiku are infinite.
The genius of
this haiku is that it presents this moment and then leads the reader
to continue thinking about the haiku after finishing reading the
haiku.
—from
Mary Gamble's email interview essay
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