“Of the many triumphs in Johnette Downing’s cycle of haiku is the return to the ancient intent and form of these one-stroke poems. Here human nature is never separate from other perceptions we have of Nature. These are healing poems, menders of the broken bones we have made of East and West, body and spirit, craft and art, song and prayer. In these poems Insight is everything.”

 — Darrell Bourque, Louisiana Poet Laureate, 2007-2011

“Johnette Downing has been writing haiku for a long time, and she even co-founded the former New Orleans Haiku Society, so we are beyond excited about his selection of poetry, Singing Waters. Many haiku cover the complexities of relationships and delight in music and other rhythms that syncopate our lives. Darrell Bourque, former Louisiana Poet Laureate, rightly has this to say of Singing Waters (from the back cover): “In these poems, Insight is everything.” My favorite poems are the extremely perceptive haiku that emphasize just how aware Downing is of the poetry within her surroundings and just how receptive she is to the haiku moment:

hole in the cloud

my nephew calls

for more money

roofers next door

their shadows

work on my house

There are over 100 poems included in the book, which is edited by Stanford Forrester—a few in sequences, plus two special haibun “New Orleans,” celebrating the tradition of jazz funerals, and “Hurricane Katrina,” recounting the poet’s ordeal and suffering through that natural catastrophe:

flooding neighboring states

hurricane

evacuees

Driven by her musician’s ear, it is Downing’s sense of hearing that we find most often provides her imaginative leap from thought to poetry:

roller coaster

leaving my voice

at the top

so quiet

I hear his apology

coming

‘I have lived my entire life near water, and naturally, as a musician, I hear music in water,” Downing says in the introduction. ‘There is music in haiku as well; therefore, I have divided this book into water chapters to evoke a mood even thought few poems are about water. I hope you enjoy the score.’ The section groupings skillfully add meaning and layers to them. The chapter ‘Bayou’ lovingly contains poems about her family and memories growing up in Louisiana while the chapter ‘Ocean’ records traveling experiences farther from home:

dark bayou

a fish jumps

through the moon

magnolia blossom

I unfold the kimono

instructions

I’ll liken Singing Waters to a great record—I found myself returning to it again for certain haiku in the days after finishing it because I either wanted to experience a pleasant phrasing or recognize one of the poem’s insights over again.”

—Tom Sacramona, Editor, Frogpond, Volume 45:2 Spring/Summer 2022

Cabbie - Amazon Review

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent haiku!

Reviewed in the United States on March 11, 2022

If you want to read excellent haiku, I suggest "Singing Waters." Ms. Downing has captured the true spirit of haiku, nothing gimmicky and everything of substance and resonance. Where her poems leave off, this reader was able to discover the "aha" moment. She also included two haibun, one of my favorite forms of the haiku genre. Kudos to Ms. Downing. Her poems are lovely and this book is one I am happy to include in my library.

Edition Details

ISBN:  1736603752

ISBN13:  9781736603758

Format: Paperback

Language: English

Release Date: April 2022

Publisher: buddha baby press, an imprint of bottle rockets press

Length: 108 Pages

Weight: 0.32 lbs.

Dimensions: 8" x 0.3" x 5.5"