That Back Road in

Literature & Fiction

Brandi, John

Poetry

Bookpeople

First edition. One of 500 copies. A book of poems. Fine in printed wrappers. Not paginated. stiff paper wrappers.. small 8vo..

Looking for Minerals

Cherry Valley Editions

In its lyricism and rich detail, this collection of sixteen meditations is very much in the tradition of Joseph Wood Krutch's The Desert Year. In the author's knowing hands, the desert landscape of the American Southwest and northern New Mexico is lifted into the realm of magic: shamans float in the arid air and flowers bloom blindingly bright after a desert rain.

In the Desert We Do Not Count the Days

Crafts, Hobbies & Home

Antiques & Collectibles

Holy Cow! Press

That Crow That Visited Was Flying Backwards

Stone Garland

Tooth of Time Books

These poems, quick-flash snippets culled from several years of writings--in solitude, while traveling, in work-a-day routines or high-country switchbacks--spring from a tradition as old as the Japanese poet Basho and still just as lively. Falling somewhere between haiku and senryu, John Brandi calls his three-liners "twists"--bringing to light a distinct American style with roots firmly planted in the natural world and the seasons of the human heart. "Here are poems which leap into the center of gravity. They bring your own world home and give you a fresh taste of wonder. As delicious as discovering the moon over and over again, this book says--Wake up! Be amazed at what happens, no matter what."--Natalie Goldberg

Weeding the Cosmos

La Alameda Press

A major collection of Brandi’s work, spanning nearly thirty years of travel— from early poems written in South America to those from India, Southeast Asia, the Himalayas, the Arctic, the North American outback, the deep solitude of New Mexico’s mountains, and always from the continent of the heart.“Brandi’s sandy poem mandalas, crisscrossing back and forth on their own paths, begin to fill out landscapes in depth.”— Gary Snyder

Heartbeat Geography: New and Selected Poems

White Pine Press

Poetry. "A student looking at modern haiku for the first time often asks, 'Why does haiku look like it does today? What happened to the rules?' A simple answer, to quote Zen teacher Joko Beck, is: 'A good practice is always undermining itself.' Continent to continent, culture to culture, language to language, haiku has made itself new. During this transformation, practitioners parted ways with rules that worked best for Japanese speakers. New languages, geographies, climates, and cultural environments triggered new approaches. The essential core ideas of Basho's time are with us, though. Keep it brief, let it jump, follow the natural world through its seasons, but do not forget the seasons of the heart"—from the Afterword.

Seeding the Cosmos: New & Selected Haiku

Poetry. Fiction. Travel. WATER SHINING BEYOND THE FIELDS focuses on travel in Southeast Asia: Cambodia, Southern China, and Thailand, presented in the haibun form, celebrated by the Japanese poet Basho in the 17th century. John Brandi defines the form in his latest book: "Haibun might traditionally be regarded as a series of en situ prose descriptions concluded by a haiku. The job of the haiku is to reveal an unexpected flash, an essence not quite captured in the prose." He adds: "But I didn' t set out to follow any rules, my own or Basho's. I set out to set out." WATER SHINING BEYOND THE FIELDS is full of long walks, misty temples, wild bus rides, solitary river excursions, culinary escapades and off-the-wall humor. It is also a cultural and political journey, one that eventually throws light on our survival options in a troubled world.

Water Shining Beyond the Fields: Haibun Travels Southeast Asia

Tres Chicas Books

“These poems shine with a Taoist sensibility and the wisdom and simplicity of self. John Brandi, as a traveler throughout Asia and the Americas, gives us the artist’s heightened sensitivity and clarity of detail; and poems of rare precision, charm and truth.”—Joanne Kyger, author of About Now
From the Himalayas, Angkor Wat, the barrios of Old Havana, the highlands of Chiapas, and the streets of New York, John Brandi’s poems lead us toward rapport with the natural world and our own inner landscapes.
John Brandi is a poet, writer, and artist. He is the author of thirty-eight books of poetry and nonfiction.

Facing High Water

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Books by Brandi, John