Step on the Rain: Haiku by ROSELIEP, Raymond - 1977

Derry, PA: The Rook Press, 1977. Paperback. 8vo. Stiff yellow wrappers. 38pp. Frontispiece. Fine. Tight, handsome first edition of "Rook Chapbooks Number Twelve," limited to 26 copies lettered A to Z, of this slim verse collection. Nicely inscribed and signed by the poet in black fineline on the title page: "to Frank trusty friend / of sure step -- Rainy Ray / Raymond Roseliep / 19 August 1977." Roseliep (1917-83) was an Iowa Catholic priest best known as a prolific poet and a master of the English haiku, which earned him the nickname "the John Dunne of Western haiku." Francis C. Lehner (1921-2001) was an English professor at Roseliep's alma, Loras College of Dubuque, Iowa, and seemingly a mentor. On the colophon leaf at rear, Roseliep fills in the letter "L" denoting which of the lettered copies this is, then pens below "L is for Lehner, / of course -- / R." An all-around superb haiku collection by this maestro of that form.