Jean LeBlanc is one of the truly select who knows two landscapes—the one of heart and mind, and the other of suburban and rural New Jersey. In these tanka and sijo, both geographies are fused with remarkable clarity. She has adapted the tanka of Japan and the sijo of classical Korean literature seamlessly to the American idiom. For LeBlanc, these short form models become a means for storytelling that is full of grace, narrative energy, and vivid discovery. Take this book on a picnic with someone you love. That’s what I did with it. As in her first book of poetry, Just Passing Through (The Paulinskill Poetry Project, 2007), there’s enough here to feed two souls. —Michael McClintock, Editor, American Tanka
