BlazeVOX To Publish Reading Whispers, Book of Triple Haiku Poems, by J. Chester Johnson

BlazeVOX Books will publish in the coming months a new book of poems, Reading Whispers, authored by J. Chester Johnson, the notable poet and nonfiction writer. Having published over 500 books by American and foreign authors since its founding in 1999, BlazeVOX is known for its adherence to a standard “to publish the innovative works of the greatest minds writing poetry today” with the added mission “to select for publication only the highest quality of writing.”

Johnson describes Reading Whispers as being representative of a new, poetic form, the triple haiku, which he has used for several years and which is derivative of the original haiku that Japanese poets have employed for centuries.

He further explains that American poets – initially, the Imagists, such as Amy Lowell, Ezra Pound, and John Gould Fletcher – began writing haiku poems in the early part of the 20^th century, but not as Johnson has formulated in his triple haiku poems, which rely on three haiku with each one being the equivalent of a stanza, and each stanza being based on the normal haiku format: three lines with five syllables in the first and last lines and seven syllables for the middle line.

Johnson suggests about his poetic form, “While the subjects of these triple haiku poems are more varied than those conveyed traditionally in haiku poetry (seasons and relatedly, nature), the tight and inferential qualities of the haiku form are, I believe, still retained.”

Geoffrey Gatza, publisher and editor of BlazeVOX Books, has said of Reading Whispers, “What J. Chester Johnson has created in these poems is not only innovative; it’s compelling. These poems are not bound to one fleeting image, but rather expand the moment into an arc of experience. This book of triple haiku stands out for its originality and craft, and BlazeVOX is honored to help bring it into the world. It’s inspiring to see someone take a form that’s often treated as static and show how alive and dynamic it can be.”

Books recently authored by Johnson include two nonfiction volumes, Auden, the Psalms, and Me, the story of the retranslation of the psalms by The Episcopal Church for which W. H. Auden and J. Chester Johnson were the two poets on the drafting committee, and Damaged Heritage, the unearthing of a major race massacre and a related account of racial reconciliation between two descendants of the massacre, one Black and one white.

Recently published books of his poetry consist of Now And Then: Selected Longer Poems and St. Paul’s Chapel & Selected Shorter Poems. The American Book Review said in 2017 of the signature poem for the latter volume, “Johnson’s ‘St. Paul’s Chapel’ is one of the most widely distributed, lauded, and translated poems of the current century”.

“I’m absolutely thrilled,” Johnson added, “to join the consequential group of outstanding writers and poets that have been published by BlazeVox, including Robert Creeley, Eileen Myles, Grace C. Ocasio, Michael Kelleher, and Anne Waldman, to name just a few.”

Three sample, triple haiku poems from Reading Whispers appear below:

WINTER

The jaws of the cliff
Stood square against the soft hands
Of a first snowfall.

Yet children do not
Cry out nor do they plead once;
Snow dampens the wood.

You had said one thing,
And someone else another;
Outside, winter waits.

YOU, A Love Poem

From many places
To many voices I hear,
I sought only one.

I am who I am
Where you are, and I’ll be who
I’ll be where you’ve been.

You were there before
We were, before there, before
I knew you would be.

OBVERSE

Be wary of wins,
Disagree with convention,
Give weight to last place.

My flaws are my strength,
And they do not hide but warn
Once my name is called.

Learn then to quit: if
Song has run out, questions stop
Asking for answers.