This slim book has renewed my excitement about language's powers. It's full of delightful perceptions, relatable observations, witty reflections, and surprising pairings of ideas - the "twist" or new way of seeing that makes a good haiku succeed. It was a pleasure to read, and it's gotten under my skin. A lovely object, beautifully bound with a black cord and with drawings inside for each season.

I love the premise of this book. It’s inspiring to witness the beauty that can emanate from a single haiku capturing a moment in time.

"Our lives are but pollen to them, scattered on the breeze, flashing briefly if caught in a sunbeam, then gone to the making of more, always more, of us."

I first met Chris in a Montana Writers class at UM. I had no idea what to expect. I had read the assigned reading of his 3 hours prior to class, partly out of procrastination, and partly to keep it fresh in my head. I liked that he was honest to a class of undergrads, honest about his writing, our writing, our questions about writing, and his approach. I was hooked, to say the very least. Chris was kind and excited about how many questions we had for him. And, he read his own work like he had just written it that very second. The emotion, the break in parts of his voice while talking about his dad, or his dogs; the reading reminded me of why I wanted to write in the first place.

His second book is welcoming. The artistry of haiku and haibun are friendly, and I wish more professors taught their simple yet engulfing form. I devoured this book in two hours, and I have plans to sit with it again this evening. We should all be so lucky to take the time as Chris has done to observe our surroundings.