TIME FOR HAIKU

A small collection of original haiku, originally published in Catalan, set within evocatively spare illustrations.

Santaeulàlia closes with a short disquisition on the traditional structure and subject matter of Japanese haiku, including useful samples and exercises for readers. His preceding poems, one or two per page and grouped into four seasonal sections beginning with “Autumn,” stick to the syllabic 5-7-5 even in translation and are properly infused with references to time or nature. In general, though he does occasionally wander off script into ambiguity—“I open, unsure, / the drawer that’s full of socks. / End of September”—his poems stick to familiar imagery, like “green stalks of wheat / gently swaying… beneath the white clouds,” water lilies blooming in the shadow of a bridge, and the sound of waves in a seashell. Lozano depicts mostly sketchy figures of racially diverse children in ordinary moments, from trick-or-treating and putting a hat on a snowman to walking a dog or spinning hula hoops. Still, the illustrator’s occasionally slips in a sunbathing mermaid or some other flight of fancy, and his minimally detailed settings create plenty of space for free-floating imaginations.

A solid instruction to a time-honored poetic form, marked by inspired visuals.