There is something about the beginning of spring that quickens my blood after a long, cold winter. For those of you like me who appreciate nature and enjoy reading haiku, grab Morgan Grayce Willow’s chapbook “Arpeggio of Appetite”.
Each of the poems is written as a cinquain—five lines consisting of 2,4,6,8 and 2 syllables equaling a total of 22 syllables. Reminiscent of Basho and Emily Dickinson, the poems use language sparsely but are full of rich images that stamp the reader’s mind with a picture. In “Bat”, few words are used but the reader is left with the full meaning of the poem at the end: “Window/open unseen./A bat sweeps through the room,/sounding./ A benediction for faint hearts.”
For those who enjoy things in small packages (or just can’t devote time to reading, say, The Iliad) these poems are perfect. They can be read while waiting for the bus, doing laundry or being interrupted by kids. By the time I arrived at the end of the book, I had found my appetite and was wanting to read more.
- Rhonda Niola