The
magic of haiku resides in the fact that it inspires the
sensitivities of the reader, allowing an immersion of immediate
sense perceptions. In Full Moon Serenade by William
Scott Galasso, the honesty of the poet's perception is evident
in many of his haiku, short verses, and haibun. Though Galasso
seems compelled to write some haiku that are stimulated
by cause and effect or that casually list, In a prose-like
way, images from nature, these few instances do not really
deter from the overall quality of this book. It is a quality
that captures the mystery of poetry's transformative energy;
the reader hears the poetry speak rather than the poet.
The reader is satisfied, too, by the language and images
the poet offers.
Many
of the poems in Full Moon Serenade rely upon the
music of sound and the sense of hearing for inspiration:
Snowmelt
&
the silent stream
regains its voice. |
Often
there is a synesthesia of senses that creates a unified
poetic image that enables the reader to hear sunlight and
see the river's song:
Carried
downstream
with the river's song
morning sunlight. |
Frequently
it is the perception of color that enables the poet to see
the pattern in the design, the unity within diversity:
Between
black branches
and snow's whiteness
only silence. |
Deep
and deeper
shades of green
ripening in rain. |
This
ripening that occurs in spring steeps each spring poem with
a sense of magic:
Cherry
blossoms
filling vacancies
between branches. |
Straight
to the moon
skipping stones
over still waters. |
To
allow oneself to become abandoned to this magic is to allow
what Aldous Huxley called "the doors of perception"
to be opened and cleansed once again:
Mountains
through my window
melting in the rain. |
A favorite sequence is "In the Beginning"; it
is a powerful testament to a love relationship:
Tasting
sea salt
on your tongue
& gulls sweep the sky. |
In
this sequence, Galasso's sense perceptions are vibrating
with song.
We
see in Full Moon Serenade that the poet is sensitive
to the gifts this immediate life has to give and he is not
afraid to sing its praise; this book of poetry is, as well,
a gift to the reader:
GIFTS
The
Moon said to the River
I give to you my light,
and the river replied
And I to you, my song.
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