Naomi Beth Wakan

Now and Here Naomi Beth Wakan

In this beautifully presented book, poet Naomi Beth Wakan joins photographer Christine Brooks Cote to offer glimpses into their "now and here." Wakan wrote tanka-a format of five-line poems originating in Japan-in response to photographs by Cote. Wakan chose this particular format because it starts with an objective description of the image- "Early morning / the dew still resting / where it settled"-and then pivots to the poet's subjective reaction-"would we could wake refreshed / to look at things in new ways". Cote's photographs are the perfect inspiration for a poet-"you're looking at my life and what I love; you're seeing bits and pieces of places I have been; and you're catching glimpses of the best moments of my life." The title, Now and Here, comes from Henry David Thoreau: " . . . all these times and places and occasions are now and here."