52 Views:The Haibun Variations

Poetry. California Interest. "Jim Natal's 52 VIEWS: THE HAIBUN VARIATIONS is a record of a year, mostly in Arizona and in an interconnected age, of the struggles of everyday life in the context of family, place, current events, and art. Interspersed with journal entries are short haiku-like poems that reflect and refract the light of the prose in surprising ways. Reading the pieces in succession, you can feel your mind shifting from prose-mode to poetry-mode. A successful venture into the form, it's like reading three books at once, at the same time in the moment, in memory, and in reflection. With an informative Afterword, it is a must-read for anyone who wants to understand or write contemporary haibun."—Richard Garcia "In 52 VIEWS, Jim Natal mines daily experience in these observant and insightful, contemporary haibun."—Arthur Sze