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Vital Signs: Haiku
by Deborah P Kolodji
78 haiku-98 pages
Price: $10.00
Publisher: Cuttlefish Books
ISBN: # 978-1-7350257-8-0
To order:https://bookshop.org
Reviewed by Mary Jo Balistreri
Vital Signs, the title of Deborah Kolodji’s most recent book, tells the reader immediately what is at stake: her very existence, reinforced by her first haiku and the repetition of the words, vital signs: (body temperature, pulse rate, respiration rate and blood pressure) These are the objective signs essential to life.
the blush of dawn
through a hospital window
vital signs
We begin the journey with her–the blush of dawn. The beginning of a day, and the beginning of a journey that Kolooji had no plans of taking. This book is her personal diary, shared with the reader as we walk with her through the maze of breast cancer, through the upheaval of a life on the brink of death.
This new world of cancer, though there is a family history of it, is for her, unknown, uncertain, frightening and lonely. Kolooji speaks of her struggles and setbacks candidly and shows us, her brave face where she can call the squished breasts/of a mammogram her overripe loquats.
She meets her struggles and setbacks head on and still maintains a sense of humor. How I admire her courage!
dried prunes
I put on
my brave face
She speaks of hearing loss and how a cancer patient clings to whatever is close. Nature is never far from Kolooji as in this haiku: Nature I would posit is one of her anchors.
low tide
an ochre sea star clings
to the rock
The poet tells us of her winter desolation of the hours swollen/with loneliness/colder days. One haiku easy to gloss over but so crucial to someone alone in the hospital, surrounded by the clinical setting, not even realizing how cold they are until:
alone
a nurse covers me
with a warm blanket
That warm blanket is like a benediction. It changes everything.
Again, Kolooji moves to nature, her seeming companion through this frightening ordeal:
sway
of hanging seed pods
autumn loneliness
Or this haiku:
my day in slow motion koi
The connection brings comfort even to this reader as she keeps abreast of what is happening with this humorous monoku:
whistleblower PET scan
or this one:
Ansel Adams photographs
in hospital halls
my life on hold
These next haiku are heart wrenching:
away from all
I’ve ever known
fallen camellia
his old toolbox
no way to fix
all that’s broken
Kolooji dedicates her book to the wonderful women of my cancer support group, the doctors nurses and staff of USC Norris Cancer Hospital. The haiku again looks to nature as it mentions the group again. I felt her strong support group, her family, her children, a healing presence that walked her walk with her.
house finches
at the feeder
cancer support group
There are the setbacks mentioned above, the unresolved problems, the medical bills. There are times where I intuit Kolodji thinks she may not make it. The lows many of us feel when undergoing a serious disease. She doesn’t stint from talking about it and does so without self-pity or overblown description. The glimpses of light are spoken of equally. Cancer, if anything, is a roller-coaster ride.
It’s scary to come to grips with one’s own mortality and I appreciate the way she travels this path, the honesty, and brave face, and then the hope expressed so beautifully in this haiku:
eucalyptus scent
another thousand
monarchs
The last haiku is fantastic, but I won’t print it here. I’m hoping you will buy this book and read it for yourself and know, vicariously, what it is like to go through a major change in the way you are in the world. Kolooji is to be admired for the way she has navigated all this. Vital Signs speaks to our humanity. I highly recommend it.
In Memoriam, Deborah P Kolodji, 11 August, 1959 – 21 July, 2024
“It is with profound sadness that we announce the passing of our beloved and respected friend in poetry, Deborah P Kolodji, on July 21, 2024, in Temple City, California. Deborah’s journey and valiant struggle with cancer, chronicled in Vital Signs, is a tribute to her life, her family, friends and the stalwart staff who guided her medical care. Deborah’s longstanding dedication to haiku poetry and the haiku universe here and abroad was outstanding. She will be missed by all whose lives she touched and the people whom she mentored.”
Mary Torregrossa, quite simply, friend
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