PRAISE FOR HAIKU SMILES

THE FOLLOWING IS THE LATEST BOOK REVIEW FOR "HAIKU SMILES"(ATTMPRESS) BY AWARD WINNING AUTHOR, NANCY LEE SHRADER.


At 157 pages, Nancy Lee Shrader’s Haiku Smiles makes for excellent reading because it succeeds in presenting haiku according to the way the ancient haiku poets meant them to be: galaxies of meaning packed in the space of a raindrop.

Haiku Smiles will delight readers in search of poetic entertainment that touches on so many topics and themes: brief 5-7-5 syllabic encounters that satisfy like lengthy visits offered by much longer poetry.

Nancy Lee Shrader’s pen is a mighty one! Obviously an attentive student of poetry, she has honed her craft insightfully well as indicated by the poems in this collection. Brilliantly observant, she has translated her awe of the world around her into the lines of her haiku with which readers can relate with their own wonder about nature’s beauty and power. With strong word choice and vivid imagery, Nancy is able to capture a sliver of the natural and preserve the moment in the form of a haiku. No easy task!

Here are two haiku from Haiku Smiles:

“Crimson”

Dances in crimson

Roses blush in the garden

Embarrassing spring

“Caustic”

Caustic rivers run

Deceitful rocks hide below

Corroding the shore

As a published poet myself, a conductor of poetry workshops, and a longtime judge of poetry contests, I can with much pleasure and assurance recommend Haiku Smiles to anyone in search of uplifting poetry. As expressed in Nancy Lee Shrader’s own words from her haiku “Kettles and Conversation”: “Dreams are voiced here.”

Salvatore Buttaci
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