Book Review: 'One Two Three: Selected Hay(na) ku Poems' by Eileen R. Tabios and Rebeka Lembo

Eileen R. Tabios, who created the fascinating form of poetry called Hay(na)ku, curated this collection of works in tandem with Rebeka Lembo who provides Spanish translations of the works.

Eileen Tabios created this form which can be described as a tercet of three lines, a total of six words (1 in the first line, 2 in the second line, and 3 in the third line - or the reverse of order of the lines/words) with no restriction on syllables or stressed words or rhymes. In this collection Eileen’s poems are translated into Spanish by Rebeka and that transformation is enlightening.
A couple of examples whet the appetite:
WEATHER/WHETHER
…blueness
of sky –
I am breathing

As If

There was un
momento, a
poem

I wrote while
driving the
car.

My ego would
not let
me

pull over to
jot it
down.

“If a poem
is so
powerful

it will return,”
I have
boasted

for a long
time to
other

poets, as if
I possessed
some

knowledge they did
not already
possess.

It feels like
years and
yet

that poem has
not yet
returned.

What I recall
is that,
somehow,

it related to
perfect timing
y

flamenco.

At book's end there is a fascinating history of Hay(na)ku. This is experimental poetry now, but there were days when sonnets and villanelles were considered experimental....Very successful book, this. Grady Harp, June 18
I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book.

Editor's note: This review has been published with the permission of Grady Harp. Like what you read? Subscribe to the SFRB's free daily email notice so you can be up-to-date on our latest articles. Scroll up this page to the sign-up field on your right.