I would encourage readers of this gem of a book to put away their musical scores and mathematical-literary formulas, to momentarily forget their guardianship of the more restrictive regulations regarding classical haiku-writing .. and even to attempt to avoid the perils of getting "stuck" in the search for the perfect «haiku moment», as that could possibly inhibit one's ability to recognize (and co-create) the essence of the poem. Furthermore, I would encourage the reader to try to see all poems in this book as being integral and connected parts of the entire artistic work. Although these individual works function quite well on their own, there is even greater "music" to be heard in discovering the silent transitions from haiku to haiku .. and experiencing the work in its totality: a comprehensive mural which rivals the frescoes of the greatest known and un-named painters from several centuries ago: yes, a haunting image dating from the earliest cave-dweller paintings on record to the Renaissance and Classical periods to Post Modern expressionism. 

- Adam Donaldson Powell 

Review New Utopia - Rich Haiku Poems With Diversity of Religious Awareness By Joseph Spence, Sr. 

HAIKU

dove in a garden enclosed
lives in lord's temple:
virgin mary

nuke-capable fire
kills every thing
except suicide bomber

ten headed devil
talks of peace-
before attack

that ambush
that stratagem
satan explodes bomb