Readers and visitors here know the influence John Haines has on my writing. I was introduced to John Haines and the poetry collection “The Owl in the Mask of the Dreamer” while taking a class at The Loft in Minneapolis, MN 15 years ago. His gift was concise stanzas with vivid and lively images, placing you right in the scene.
So it is with great pleasure to know another book about John Haines has been released – “May the Owl Call Again: A Return to Poet John Meade Haines, 1924-2011” by Rachel Epstein. Published by Cirque Press, Anchorage, AK in 2024 it highlights the last 2 years of John Haines’ life with his words, writings, and letters.
It is available here:
My favorite poem is following from “The Owl in the Mask of the Dreamer”:
Denali Road
By the Denali road, facing
north, a battered chair
in which nothing but the wind
was sitting.
And farther on
toward evening, an old man
with a vague smile,
his rifle rusting in his arms.
