Reviews Of Tastes of Sunlight: Haiku for the Seasons

Reading Mary McCormack’s debut haiku collection is like taking a walk with the poet while she points out delicate observations along the way. Arranged by seasons, the book begins in winter. The immersion is so complete that by the time I neared the end of the first section, I found myself longing for spring. As the title suggests, McCormack often employs synesthesia to cast an ordinary moment in new light: citrus scent / lingering in the sky / late winter sun. She also makes use of the full range of senses, pausing to share the sensation of cotton on bare skin, a sip of blackberry wine, a lavender sachet, or one of my favorites: tucked away / beneath the ivy / a pocket of silence. Occasionally, McCormack prompts the reader to fill in large portions of the story by using only a few words to evoke a scene: bluebells / cowbells / wind. Other times she veers off the path completely and invites us into a storybook fantasy: starlight / woven into the tapestry / a white stag. Throughout the collection, McCormack’s mindset of wonder and delight comes through, even in moments of uncertainty, as in this monoku: the pear tree’s white petals in the dark a path emerges.

-Lisa Gerlits (Review first published in Frogpond)

Tastes of Sunlight: Haiku for the Seasons is a wonderful collection that transports us into each season. Mary McCormack's haiku are multi-faceted and engage our five senses to create rich experiences. In McCormack's haiku, we, Nature, and our imagination meet. The poet offers a glimpse into her life while leaving room for the reader to explore their own world and internal landscapes. These haiku are new flowers—carefully planted—in the garden of the English-language haiku community. A beautiful and inspiring collection.

Reviewed by Jacob D. Salzer, author of Unplugged— Haiku & Tanka (Lulu, 2022) and co-author of Returning: Tanka Sequences (Lulu, 2022)

These seasonally arranged haiku are closely observed, cover a wide range of emotions, and are fresh and surprising. McCormack explores the form, the world, and herself. Loved it.

-John Palen, author of “Riding With the Diaspora” from Sheila-Na-Gig Editions

An enveloping experience that immerses the reader in words that make one feel and hear all four seasons, starting with winter. The ending made me want to re-read the book immediately to relive the pleasant dream-like journey.

-Davene LG

This collection captures the essence of observation and noticing that we strive for as haiku poets. The images are vivid yet simple, and when filtered through a human presence, each becomes an invitation to pause and honour the beauty that surrounds us. We become the painter in Mary's award-winning poem:

cherry blossoms . . .
the painter
sets down his brush

-Antoinette Cheung

Reviews of All the Words Kept Inside

All the Words Kept Inside by Mary McCormack is a haiku journey that starts with her divorce and ultimately unfolds into a new beginning. From darkness to light, these selected haiku and micro-poems transform from self-doubt and loneliness into hope and a new mindset. McCormack courageously invites us into her world, where together we are stepping through cobwebs / into the forest / with a clear mind. Poems like this one beautifully mark the tranition into self-respect and compassion, inspiring readers to emerge from their griefs and look for what gives them joy. These three haiku stood out to me: (1) black walnuts – / the ground no longer firm / beneath my feet, (2) a gentle breeze / opening the door / to my mind, and (3) heartwood / open to the elements. I appreciate McCormack’s raw honesty in this collection. She expresses the challenges of a dark time in her life, yet also writes the first pages of a new chaper. I think her haiku will inspire readers to let go of their past and create space to live more fulfilling lives. By the end of this collection, I feel a reverberating voice of empowerment, as McCormack depicts in this ending haiku: heading out / on my own / dawn’s first light.

-Jacob D. Salzer (Review first published in Frogpond Volume 46:3, Autumn 2023)

The Haiku takes the reader through the hardship of divorce, and every sharp feeling and falling that one can encounter along the way. However, the poetry doesn’t leave a person in that well, but rather walks through and out the storm to the end where there’s light and hope again. If you're looking for a meaningful gift to send someone you know is going through an awful break-up then this book is the one!

-Davene LG

Reviews of Touching His Scar

Touching His Scar is a collection of phrases, comments, and haiku on the devastation of war. For example, the books starts with the comment war / undiluted / horror. Here is a phrase from the third page: hardened / by all this / anger and a very true statement: going to war / means never coming back / the same. There are poignant haiku as well, including: wind in the reeds / long after their deaths / ripples and an effective senryu: returned from war / the only one he talks to / his tiny niece. The book closes with the title poem: her / hand / touching / his / scar.

-Randy Brooks (Review first published in Frogpond Volume 47:2, Spring/Summer 2024)

Reviews Of Brushstrokes

Reading Mary McCormak’s Brushstrokes is like listening to a friend tell you all about the first rush of a new love. The collection is at turns intimate and prosaic, alternating between the comfort and eroticism of an embrace. Its governing romanticism is imbued with a sense of crisp naturalism. McCormack is at her best when indirect, displacing limerence onto the flora that surrounds the volume’s lovers, as in:

springing up
within me
wild violets

The innocence of love occasionally bubbles up like a spring, releasing a heady joy that runs through the text like an overfast heartbeat:

just can’t
get enough –
bumblebee

Some of her poems are plaintive and emotionally straightforward, or as comfortable as a hand clasped in yours. When it comes to eroticism, McCormack understands that subtlety is key. Some of her poems are downright sexy:

feeling my heartbeat
down
there

McCormack explores what is essentially human to sexual connection and roots it in the human connection to nature. She has put together a tactile and potent collection of erotic poetry that is best enjoyed on a sun-dappled afternoon.

-Pippa Phillips (Review first published in Frogpond Volume 47:2, Spring/Summer 2024)

Poetry that captures the wonderful moments of first falling in love. The subtly suggestive wording adds to the building tension. Soft and sweet!

-Davene LG