RUNDELANIA

 

Poetry Oasis – A dip into Wonder: a toe into Haiku

— Reflections from Moderator, Kitty Jospé

 

Poetry Oasis started its fifth year at Rundel this Fall!  The weekly meeting is free and open to the public.  Each Thursday, we explore poetry by reading aloud poems, and discussing the impact of sounds, arrangement and other craft elements. We examine how words create mood, spike our curiosity, wonder, confirm a certain serendipity — all qualities operative of fine haiku according to Scott Mason, editor of the haiku journal, The Heron’s Nest.

 

Sometimes we look at poems in translation, which reminds us that meaning is not guaranteed by

a dictionary.  In the case of Haiku, it becomes even more complicated to understand the spirit

behind this Japanese form which aims to create an emotional experience through the senses,

in a condensed form which mixes soul and wit.

It isn’t solely a question of 17 syllables of English, arranged on five lines.  Japanese has a different approach to syllable.   It uses craft concepts such as “karumi” (lightness of spirit and touch) and reflects a way of living mindfully, aware of small details, connecting to each moment,

yet knowing it too will pass.  Each haiku seems to delight in surprise and confirm, “It’s amazing

to be alive”.

Just as important as the requirements of concision is the use of a kigo (word which indicates a season) and a kireji (cutting word: what will separate two parts of the haiku:  the “kindling” from the flame.  The effect of reading them together, allows a feeling  to burst into fire !

 

Here is an example:

 

writing table

I watch a spoon

gather the dawn

— Seán MacMathúna

 

You can read it with a pause after “table”.  Who writes what at this table, is not the question…

a haiku is not going to develop a narrative like that.  It suffices that the table is there like

a stage, and the next two lines provide the action where both the implied writer and a reflective

spoon, can gather the dawn.    The mind is a spoon, the haiku is a spoon, transferring a new,

perhaps surprising sense of “spoon” as gatherer and implement that will transport nourishment

to feed us.

 

Cor van den Heuvel, haiku poet, writes:

What distinguishes a haiku is concision, perception and awareness – not a set number of syllables…The poem is refined into a touchstone of suggestiveness. In the mind of an aware reader it opens again into an image that is immediate and palpable, and pulsing with that delight of the senses that carries a conviction of one’s unity with all of existence.

 

For those interested, this article can be helpful:

http://www.nahaiwrimo.com/home/why-no-5-7-5

 

 

Haiku allows a crossover of senses:

night frost

I can hear the moonlight

creaking in the garden

 

**

KEEP OFF GRASS

the tut tut tut

of a sprinkler head

 

In English, we can play on words that function both as noun and verb:

 

end of summer

the rust on my scissors

smells of marigolds

 

“Smells” as noun belongs to the flowers; as verb, it describes the scent of the rusty scissors after

cutting the flowers.

 

Although some Haiku could be a single line, by using three lines, multiple layers of meaning

are possible.  For example:

 

undone

by another

sunset

 

One could understand : Undone by another sunset. (This could be a good thing, or not; sunset could mean end of the day and the feel of unfinished work; sunset as a pleasant reminder to

stop and admire the beauty.)

OR

Undone.  (however you understand that. Let whatever meaning that evokes then focus on

another sunset.)

OR

Undone by another (again, with multiple possibilities…)

the final word, sunset tells us when.

 

Haiku supplies a thread for the  reader, which promotes a greater sense of engagement with life

and the world around us.

between roots and branches

centuries

and a child’s swing

 

I invite you to further explore the world of haiku in this book edited by Robert Hass.  The Essential Haiku with versions of Matsuo Bashō (1644-1694), Yosa Buson (1716-1783); Kobayashi Issa (1763-1827).  In Hass’ words: we will detect poignant calm and spiritual restlessness in Bashō; a painterly precision and strangeness in Buson; pathos and humor in Issa.

 

 

Poetry Oasis: Unwind at Noontime

 

 

 

Kitty Jospé, loves facilitating poetry appreciation and collaborations with word, art and music.  After years of teaching French, she turned to English, and received her MFA in creative writing in 2009.