Petals Unfold: The Essence of Flowers
Like a broken petal in a breeze, the words within Petals Unfold by Joanne Olivieri float by one’s eyes beautifully. This short collection of “Western styles of haiku and senryu,” make for a perfect coffee table book. This is not an insult, in fact it’s quite the opposite. It is simply to say that this collection is easily accessible and enjoyable. Thus its perfection as a coffee table book. This book is more than worth keeping and showcasing to others. This rapid read is also nicely ornamented with each poem featuring an image of a flower from the San Francisco Botanical Gardens.
The work is akin to a walk through gardens, as it can be breezed through. The work as most should take only 45 minutes to read, with there being only 29 total poems and each of these poem being only three lines long.
The word usage is quite simple. Yet, each word hits rightly and nicely. There is no complexity in this collection, just a lovely simplicity. This collection has no need or use for obscurity and benefits as a result. There is much that modern poets could learn from Joanne Olivieri. As she can paint a more vivid image with five words than most poets can draw with 5,000.
Published by Poetic Shutterbug Press
Publication year 2010
