“Haiku in the Night” by Ben Ditmars is a collection of free form haiku. The title is a play on Sinatra’s “Strangers in the Night”… A haiku in its self. This thin book on whose each page is a separate Haiku, is a really remarkable selection. I was unsure as to what I was getting into when I started it, having fears of bad limericks, but Mr. Ditmars delivers an astounding collection of poetry.
From the opening:
Stroll with me in green
Lively, lost, together
I am yours
Each Haiku after that is ready to stand on its own. I could’t help but to share some with a close friend and the reaction is the same. These are amazing. I am really hesitant to give a five star rating to a to a collection of poems from a young poet, but these stand the test and I would happily intermix these haiku with Byron or Blake. Now I need to find a copy of Night Poems.
