Handholds

Paul Friedrich

the last sun aslant
on granite rock—gauze aflame
tomorrow will come

high on Cold Mountain
flowers danced that afternoon
we were together

to swim side by side
through the mirror of a lake
water without end

cool falls cascading
forever past the long ascent
of a sweat-drenched man

ISBN 1-59661-112-X 52 pages/$9

Handholds is an astonishing collection of haikus. Paul Friedrich has achieved here a most subtle fusion of the classical Japanese form with his own personal experiences. It’s a masterwork, a delicate fabric where tradition has been given a new energy by an ardent practitioner of poetry and life.
—Adam Zagajewski

In Handholds, Friedrich spans continents, cultures, and generations, closing the chasm between humans and nature—and the even greater gulf between human and human. Each haiku is a gem. Read them—and read them again.
—Deborah Tannen

Vigorous and nuanced; shrewd, unabashed, and often revelatory, Paul Friedrich’s new haiku cycles provide us with incisively observed snapshots of eternity, tenderly gripping handholds on his, and our, mind and heart.
—Glenn W. Most

Paul Friedrich, born and educated in New England, has taught at multiple universities and has lived in Europe, India, and Mexico. He is involved in Russian and Oriental poetry (e.g., his recent The Gita Within Walden). His poetry collections are From Root to Flower and Harmony in Babel.