An Unlikely Sunset Audiobook By Joe Giampaolo cover art

An Unlikely Sunset

A Collection of Haiku, Tanka & Chöka Poetry

 Virtual Voice Sample

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An Unlikely Sunset

By: Joe Giampaolo
Narrated by: Virtual Voice
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About this listen

 "Joe Giampaolo crafts a luminous and meditative collection that celebrates nature, love, and the quiet beauty of existence...Elegant, philosophical, and deeply human, this book is both a poetic retreat and a soulful guide for modern readers."
~ Chicago Book Review

"Reading Giampaolo’s offerings is like reading haiku created by the great Matsuo Bashō...The work is wise, moving, and smart."
~ The US Review of Books

“An Unlikely Sunset stands as a remarkable achievement in contemporary poetry... An Unlikely Sunset achieves what the best poetry always has: it transforms how we see the world, if only for a moment, and in doing so, transforms us as well."
~ BookShelfie

"Unveiling these poetic reflections in the stark and simple forms of haiku, tanka, and chöka, Giampaolo’s mastery of these revered styles is undeniable."
~ Self-Publishing Review

~Five-Star Seal, BookShelfie (March 2025)
~ Recommended Book, The US Review of Books (June 2025)

This curated collection contains more than one hundred short poems in the style of traditional Japanese poetry (haiku, tanka, and chöka). Sixteen of these short poems were published in previous collections of poetry, while the rest are brand new and written specifically for this publication.

Joe's regular poetry is in free verse; it is based on a stream of consciousness and deals with many issues such as love, metaphysics, and social justice; his haiku and tanka are, by their very nature, very structured and aim at capturing the instant, that fleeting moment that contains so much beauty, joy, and meaning. Each poem is an invitation to meditate on issues such as the transient attributes of life, the beauty of nature, compassion and love, essence, and mindfulness.

The most appealing aspect of this style of poetry is that it forges art into a discipline that caresses and soothes the soul of the reader and the author alike by grounding them in the beauty of the present. This type of poetry also has the power to connect us with people of different cultures and different eras; for example, there is an obvious Zen component in this art form that recalls fundamental concepts of Shintoism, Buddhism, and Taoism. I also see many similarities with the beliefs of many Stoic philosophers (Seneca, Epictetus, and Marcus Aurelius), and the teachings of modern spiritual masters.

The poems in this collection are divided into four sections: Nature, The Art of Writing, Essence, and Love. We invite you to meditate for a few seconds on each poem. We hope you will enjoy this collection of poetry.
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