A Lost Prophet: Haiku & Tanka

by Jacob D. Salzer

High/Coo Chapbook Award 2024

ISBN 978-1-929820-34-4 • perfectbound
July 2024, 60 pages (4" X 5.75") • $15.00 US

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This book is dedicated to:

Mother Earth

My Family

& our Ancestors

The main themes of my haiku revolve around nature, family, psychology, and dreams. I frequently write haiku involving the element of water. I also have a deep interest in Indigenous Peoples and their culture, world spirituality, philosophy, and mythology. I’m inspired to write haiku that involve the mysteries of identity and nature. ~Jacob D. Salzer

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About the Author

Jacob D. Salzer is a Pacific Northwest poet who enjoys writing haiku, tanka, and haibun. He is the author of Mare Liberum: Haiku & Tanka (Lulu, 2020), Unplugged – Haiku & Tanka (Lulu, 2022), and Metal & Rain: Selected Tanka (Lulu, 2023). He is also the co-author of Echoes: A Collection of Linked-Verse Poetry (Lulu, 2020) and Returning: Tanka Sequences (Lulu, 2022). He is currently serving as the managing editor of Frogpond: The Journal of the Haiku Society of America (2023-Present).

He also enjoys freelance editing and has edited five haiku anthologies: Yanty’s Butterfly (Lulu, 2016), dedicated to Yanty Tjiam; Half A Rainbow (Lulu, 2020) dedicated to Rachel Sutcliffe; New Bridges: The Portland Haiku Group Anthology (CreateSpace, 2018) dedicated to Johnny Baranski; and Desert Rain (Lulu, 2022) dedicated to Martha Magenta. Jacob is the editor of Masayume: A Dream Comes True (Lulu, 2020) by Carolyn Winkler (co-edited with Diana Saltoon) and Myths of the Archetypes: An Intuitive Tarot Guide (Lulu, 2022) by Carolyn Winkler.

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overgrown cemetery —
the tangled roots
of my family tree

~ ~ ~

a long journey . . .
in mother's clothing
the scent of snow

~ ~ ~

scent of indigo
our nameless shadows
in the forest stream

~ ~ ~

looking back
after a long journey . . .
her flame
is now a small star
over the endless sea

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Reader Introduction

In this collection of 42 haiku and 8 tanka, Jacob D. Salzer takes us on a journey “beyond the church wall” to come to terms with the psychological consequences of western society and colonialism, as we discover “the tangled roots” of his family tree.

Life and death interweave in this collection of poetry that does not provide answers, but rather a series of inquiries into the origins of identity and the mysteries of nature. A timeless river runs throughout these poems—we hear the murmur of half-hidden stories within stories, as the poet explores the tangled roots in his human family among other fellow creatures on planet Earth. Here you will find the dreams of owls and horses, metaphors in a gnarled oak, an “angel’s breath in the understory,” and many other voices echoing in the wind.

Deeply imbued with a sense of reverence and mystery, these haiku & tanka also convey an aching sense of loss for what may lie buried among the “bones of yesterday.” Resonant with sorrow and with wonder, these are poems to cherish and to ponder.

~ Jenny Ward Angyal

Reader Introduction

In A Lost Prophet: Haiku & Tanka, Jacob D. Salzer seamlessly draws us into a world where human sensitivity and nature intermingle. Each page reveals a tangible heart and an awakened mind that share the awe, beauty, and mystery found in ordinary life — as in the light of a “crescent moon” revealing “a glimpse of salmon / in the river’s darkness.”

Love is woven throughout these pages subtly and overtly, expressed in “a long hug” and in the tanka where “holding you / the water reminds me / to let go.”

A Lost Prophet is a book to be savored, as each poem invites the reader into direct experiences. Despite colonial ships arriving in “a turbulent sea,” we hear a voice “beyond the church wall,” and find peace in “her last breath . . . / a violet in full bloom.”

~ Diana Saltoon

Jacob Salzer’s haiku and tanka bring together the ancient past and a sense of the future, all within the present moment. His clear, crystalized images and nuanced internal comparisons reveal a deep connection to the people he loves, both present and departed, and an equally deep connection to the naturalworld.

The emotional truths reverberating from Salzer’s concise and focused poems allow readers to experience just how rich and meaningful single moments can be.

~ Ce Rosenow

Acknowledgments

Grateful acknowledgment is made to the editors of the following journals and publications in which some of these poems appeared:

Autumn Moon Haiku Journal

Fractured by Cattails: HSA Anthology 2023

Frogpond

Haiku Canada Review

Haiku Commentary

Hedgerow

Heliosparrow Poetry Journal

I Sing the Salmon Home Anthology

Kingfisher

Modern Haiku

Ribbons

Take5 Journal

The Art of Tanka

Haiku Foundation Per Diem (Haiku of the Day)

The Heron’s Nest

International Scriabin 150 Festival, Nov. 2022

Tanka Society of America Members’ Anthology 2023

Under the Basho

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