Japanese Garden
Four Seasons of Poems
- Arts & Literature
- Publisher: Resource Publications (Wipf and Stock)
- Published: 2026
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Publisher's Description
Start in the spring, the quintessential garden season. Travel through summer, fall, winter, noticing changes in the trees, flowers, wildlife behavior, and visitors. Readers find themselves in these moments: sitting on a bench, leaning on a bridge railing, walking on gravel paths as views soften and expand. Look up to see a spider on the knotty pine gazebo ceiling, look out to the tea house beyond, breathe deep the floral scents, and listen. These Japanese-style poems lead readers in simple observation of extraordinary beauty all around the pond at the heart of this garden.
Endorsements (5)
“The poems in Japanese Garden create perfectly nuanced reflections that embrace each season. They travel from spring, when a finch warbles haiku, to winter, when the poet ‘kneels to write a word . . . / sees a pebble cradled in the womb of a rock / . . . and [feels] . . . awe.’ Throughout her beautifully paced book, Nellie deVries is ‘pull[ing] the door closed / against the past.’ In doing so, she opens our eyes to the present that is so vibrantly alive in her garden.”
“Just noticing the world around us is a deeply spiritual path, and Nellie deVries walks there effortlessly in the delightful haiku-like poems of Japanese Garden. It is a quiet sanctuary of noticing. Her mastery of mono no aware—the art of capturing the beauty of the fleeting moment—is on display in this accessible and inviting volume, or as she writes, ‘This is not a gateless gate / yet the way / is always open.’”
“Japanese Garden is a remarkable collection of poems, inspired as much by the poet’s intimate and lyrical encounters with the aesthetics of a particular place as by her affinity with the forms and sensibility of traditional Japanese poetry. Deceptively simple, the poems present a master class in what Robert Bly called ‘deep image,’ where the realms of the physical and spiritual unite. As Nellie deVries implores us: ‘Come!’ Wonders await.”
“Nellie deVries has a deft touch with words and a discerning eye for vivid details. These delightful haiku will heighten a reader’s appreciation for what is seen or anticipated when visiting the Japanese Garden at Meijer Gardens in Grand Rapids, Michigan.”
“This thoughtful collection has been as carefully tended as the garden that inspired it. Follow the full circle of Nellie’s poems, pausing along the path to notice features, themes, and moods that shift with the changing seasons. Japanese Garden is a tranquil, reflective book that draws the reader into quiet wonder. It’s my joy to recommend it!”
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