Sharon Hashimoto
Poet and writer Sharon Hashimoto was born and raised in Seattle. She earned both her BA and MFA from the University of Washington. Her first collection of poetry, The Crane Wife (reprinted by Red Hen Press, 2021), won a Nicholas Roerich Poetry Prize. Her second poetry collection, More American, won the 2021 Off the Grid Poetry Prize and the 2022 Washington State Book Award in Poetry. Her debut short story collection, Stealing Home, is forthcoming in May 2024 (Grid Books). Her poetry and fiction have appeared widely in journals such as the Rambler, Crab Orchard Review, and Shenandoah. She has received fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts, the King County Arts Commission, and Artist Trust. Hashimoto teaches writing at Highline Community College in Des Moines, Washington.
2024 Jack Straw Alumni Poetry Series:
Midnight,
The Spotted Hound Wanders
Through the Kobashi’s Farm
The triangle of his head cocked,
some strange sound catches
his ear, triggers the far-off call
to something not yet lost
in his blood. Listening, he lowers
his jaw to the earth, then releases
the deep bell of his throat.
Again, his voice pursues the ravine,
but the open night closes in
faster. Crouched down on his belly,
with his eyes closed, he can feel
the furrowed land like the echoes
of his howl ringing
the moon.
