A Review of Japanese Death Poems: Compiled by Yoel Hoffmann

This is a stout book filled to the brim with tanka and haiku poems written by Zen monks on the cusp of their death, a tradition in Japan that goes back centuries. It’s a form of poetry I hadn’t known too much about, in regard to intention at least. The form I am well familiar with, and have grown to love more and more. The older I get, the more I appreciate shorter, tighter poems. But spending a life writing poetry, whether as a zen monk in the mountains of Japan or as a modern writer just trying to get through the day, is a thing that ebbs and flows with periods of inspiration and of self-doubt, yet there has always been the feeling of there will be another poem. This book reminded me that one day, whether I know it or not, there will be a final poem, and if I’m lucky, I may get to choose those last lines. Many of the monks and poets in this collection knew it, planned for it, and sometimes died immediately upon reciting them, and the editor provides small biographies of each monk for context. The research involved, explaining the circumstances of each poet’s final days and the meaning of their last works, is truly impressive. And of course their form allows for concise poetry, often beautiful, occasionally amusing, or at least contains wry and teasing humor and self-depreciation, taking their last shot at the absurdities of human existence. But the poems are inspiring as well. They made me ponder my last poem. Maybe it doesn’t matter as much as a life’s body of work, but as every poetry collection should, this one lit a fire inside and got me writing. I hope it does the same for you.    

by James Duncan