Mare Liberum
Solo & Collaborative Poetry with Jacob D. Salzer
Unplugged— Haiku & Tanka
Jacob D. Salzer
Unplugged— (Lulu Press, 2022) is a collection of 43 haiku & 7 tanka by Jacob D. Salzer. This collection encourages readers to take a break from technology and be immersed in the Natural world. This collection features poems published in the following journals and websites: Chrysanthemum, First Frost, Frogpond, Haiku Commentary, Hedgerow, Heliosparrow, Is/Let, Kingfisher, Presence, Ribbons, The Haiku Foundation, The Heron’s Nest and The Living Haiku Anthology. $9.99 US
Now Available on Lulu, Amazon & Barnes and Noble
Publishers Weekly Editor's Pick Book Review of Unplugged—
Salzer’s eighth poetry collection, Unplugged is a pilgrimage from the self-referential megalomania of the “digital sea,” in which contemporary humanity drowns, toward a crepuscular dreamscape of “forest mist … “ where “thoughts drift into other worlds.” In this zone of silence and serenity, boundaries of time and space, darkness and light, life and death bend and vanish as readers “step into an owl’s dream” and observe “galaxies turning in the river’s darkness,” but these are not separate worlds. They are as one, like the “sound of rain;” [64] individual droplets that unite to create an orchestra.
Salzer’s deft use of juxtaposition is his principal tool in establishing a sense of oneness in his collection. In lines like: “sleeping samurai . . . /// the ladybug sways // on a blade of grass,” a moment of peace bonds two disparate images, demonstrating that the boundaries between them are flimsy and capable of being pulled apart with something as gentle as wind. The poems disrupt several binaries, including darkness and light, life and death. Grandmother’s aging veins are compared to a kale leaf, and her cremated ashes flow toward the sea. Death, to Salzer, and to nature, behaves in the same way as everything else: like a river. It is not an end, but a continuity—part of the “ebb and flow of the stars” and the earth.
The poems’ evocation of the unity of the universe echoes disparate indigenous beliefs, and the references Salzer makes throughout the collection, from the Makah totem pole to the Sioux words “wichoni mini” which mean “life-giving rains,” also pay homage to the people who were stewards of Earth instead of conquerors. Though concise, Salzer’s collection expands in meaning toward the outermost reaches of the universe, but it is written simply enough for readers of all levels to find power and value in the poems.
Takeaway: A starlit collection that dissolves boundaries between humanity and nature, time and space.
Great for fans of: Yosa Buson, Matsuo Basho
Production grades
Cover: A
Design and typography: A
Illustrations: N/A
Editing: A
Marketing copy: A
Print Date: 11/21/2022
Testimonials for Unplugged
If not wanting to break the silence is perhaps the ethos of haiku, and the gentler side of tanka, then plum blossom should be the colour of a cellphone junkyard. Galaxies turn within a river’s darkness as I step into an owl’s dream. Salzer’s work is a dreamlike magic, holding back the chaos.
Alan Summers
Founder, Call of the Page
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Whether Jacob Salzer is writing about cellphone junkyards, an owl’s dream, or koto strings, Unplugged— is a study in awareness and simplicity. Skipping stones with his father or recognizing his mother’s stories in his veins, Salzer pays tribute to his family and to the world that surrounds him. A beautiful collection.
Terry Ann Carter
Author of Tokaido (Red Moon Press, 2017) A Distinguished Book Award winner
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Unplugged—, a micropoetry collection by Jacob Salzer, connects us with the intricacies of nature that we usually overlook or miss due to the fast-paced life. The brevity, freshness, and vividness of the poems reflect how remarkably the poet has interwoven his thoughts and feelings with some deep personal experiences. I highly recommend this book.
Hifsa Ashraf
Award-Winning poet, co-commentator at the Haiku Commentary blog and author of wildflowers: haiku & tanka, her deep-rooted scars: haiku, monostiches & cherita, Her Fading Henna Tattoo: A collection of haiku poems based on domestic violence against women (received honourable mentions in the Touchstone distinguished book awards and HSA merit book awards), Running After Shadows: A Collection of Haiku Destigmatizing Mental Illness in Women, and Working with Demons
***
Unplugged— is a delicious encounter with the mysteries and relationships of the animate world. In each haiku and tanka, Jacob has provided an unassuming space for the reader to feel and hear the wordless language of trees, water, fire, and air. Captured in moments of wonder, awe, and respect for our Great Mother, Jacob’s words resonate and spread out like branches, inviting us to gently pause, rest, and join with Nature in honest communion. Jacob’s poetry is a healing medicine in a world that is so fast-paced, we often miss the opportunity to slow down and engage with life in pure and simple ways.
Unplugged— encourages us to be awake and aware of our humanness and oneness with the Earth as we become part of something much larger than ourselves.
Michelle Hyatt
Co-author of Echoes: A Collection of Linked-Verse Poetry (Lulu, 2020)
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Salzer's haiku and tanka in this collection display a clear connection between the human experience and nature, with emotive and poignant tones flowing throughout. This clarity comes even when he reaches more into imaginative and experimental expression. Like great haiku poets before him, Salzer writes from a genuine place that opens the heart of readers—revealing the compassion we have hidden behind our many facades.
Nicholas Klacsanzky
Founder and co-editor of the Haiku Commentary blog; co-author of Zen and Son: Haiku from Two Generations, and How Many Become One: A Haiku Sequence
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Jacob D. Salzer’s Unplugged— is a refreshing release from the busyness of today’s fast-paced tech world. It invites us to pause, meander into, and experience the richness of life present in mundane yet profound ways.
His words immediately connect us with nature where we can enter into “the oak tree” where “lifetimes echo” or enjoy the “wake of a seal” in a summer sunset on Olympia’s bay. Evocative, sensitive, and compassionate, these poems of haiku and tanka bring us in contact with our own deep, kind, and intuitive nature that Jacob reveals in this book.
Diana Saltoon
Author of Wife, Just Let Go: Zen, Alzheimer’s, and Love, with Robert Briggs (2017), Tea and Ceremony (2004), The Common Book of Consciousness (1990), and Four Hands: Green Gulch Poems (1987)
