Moss Laden Walls: A Review

 by Dr. Pravat Kumar Padhy

​

By Teji Sethi, (Hawakal Publishers, 2021). 107 pages; ISBN: 978-93-91431-05-1. Price: Rs. 350, USD 14.99, Available on Amazon

 

Teji Sethi is a bilingual poet and anthologist. Her haiku are often illustrated by the sense of wabi-sabi (aesthetics of natural simplicity and solitude). She is emotional and the memories strike the note in her poems:

 

moss-laden walls her fingers trace remnants of the past (p. 9)

 

It reminds me how closely it makes a poetic parallel with the haiku written by Gabi Greve: mossy steps overgrown by time and loneliness

​

She has intelligently engaged the sense of touch, sight, smell, sound, and taste:

​

autumn breeze …

her forehead still moist

with the parting kiss (p. 12)

 

Creativeness and contrast imageries have been often enamored as poetic metaphors when she presents:

 

Ganga aarti …

a million suns

sink into darkness (p. 18)

 

She often blends science with poetic symbolisms when she awaits the rhythm of the moon and tides:

 

new moon

the stillness of sea

awaits a tide (p. 37)

 

She is bold, evocative, and paints womanhood with sharp contrast:

 

menopausal blues

it is not

         red always ( p. 45)

 

 

She is equally brilliant in crafting senryu with a touch of wit and human attributes:

 

shelling peanuts

neighbours once aggrieved

share a gossip (p. 43)

 

therapy session

with her autistic son

she learns to tie a lace (p. 53)

 

Teji writes haiku with lightness (karumi) and elegance (fuga). She articulates vividness through the art of juxtaposition.

 

mango orchard

the planter sings back

to the cuckoo (p. 49)

 

origami swans …

father shares

it is time to depart (p. 89)

 

migratory birds …

carrying home

a piece of sky (p. 91)

 

She has also tried a 4-line haiku (haiqua): bus ride … / waving at a friend/ I grab/ a handful of wind (p. 81) and an experimental vertical array in the haiku on pandemic (p. 87):

 

tree sap the life in quarantine d me out

                                        r

                                        a

                                        i

                                        n

                                        s

 

Teji recalls the trauma of partition of India in haibun, ‘Tapestry’ and ‘Fragments’. The tanka prose ‘The Road Not Taken’ is a brilliant piece of reminiscence. She enumerates the contrast between the crowded modern city and the serene silhouettes of the mountain range. The concluding tanka manifests the ‘dreaming room’ (to quote Dennis M. Garrison). a beam of moonlight sieves through the window … the mesh of relationships I have lived all these years

 

When she writes, “a tender plant/ pushes through the cracks/ cemetery” (p. 21), I recall the ray of optimism portrayed by Issa:

​

moss blossoms

blooming a little crack...

stone Jizo 

​

Kobayashi Issa (Tr. David Lanoue)

Publication: triya Magazine, 2021

https://www.thetriyamag.org/general-8

Dwelling with Denial: A Collection of Poems by Rajiv Khandelwal

ISBN: 978-93-89213-19-5, The Poetry Society Of India, 2020 p. 130

 Reviewed by Pravat Kumar Padhy, Poetcrit, July 2021

Rajiv has a unique way of writing poetry manifesting the contemporary structural fabric. He is spontaneous to express the inner feeling and his poetry often forms a dialogue-style with words of frankness. In the present collection, ‘Dwelling with Denial’, he has portrayed broadly the topics related to social issues with political satires at places. Some of his poems included in the collection broadly sketch the poet’s urge for love and carry the glimpses of sensual streaks. He is often optimistic in his approach and occasionally dwells in the cradle of pessimism. Perhaps he wishes to put the point of view straight and forthwith as has been observed with uneven line breaks and without any punctuation.

Similarly, the persistence of socio-political and socio-economical evils frustrates him and compels him to dwell in spite of strong resistance. This might have led the poet to appropriately title the collection of verses.  Towards the end, he engages himself composition of analytical poetic exhibitions about the poet, poetry, and its content.

Interestingly, Rajiv has tried to use poetic devices in an artful style. The use of word-phrases, sound repetition, similes, metaphor, and allegorical expressions has added beauty to the collection.

He has used beautiful and stimulating words as ‘like evaporation of faith,’ ‘blind person’s yearning for eyesight,’   ‘As silent as our shadows,’ ‘Baggage of thoughts,’ ‘arsenic eyes,’ ‘Ice-hard resolutions,’ ‘As dry as the desert sands,’ ‘clothes of understanding,’ ‘quicksand of crazy,’ ‘corrosive thoughts,’ ‘wide-eyed realization,’ ‘thick fog of lust,’ ‘thirsty tree leaves,’ ‘keening cry,’ ‘Tongue-tied.’ Indeed these are worthy examples to contemporary literature.

Poetic craftsmanship and the use of figures of speech have been often observed in his poetry with nuanced techniques. The use of similes such as “Our eyes locked/ Like insects in amber”  (‘Another Wait’); “Like the whisper of a sleeping child”  (‘Call You Later’);  “That I missed her/ Like fish missing water……Like parched earth missing/ Raindrops/ In rain forests” (‘In Rain Forests’). At places, Rajiv uses

musicality with the use of alliteration like ‘stern signature stare,’ ‘prying pedestrian peek,’ ‘unwisely unafraid, clock’s click clack’ etc.

Occasionally he has crafted a few metaphorical articulations such as: 

In my life

She is the cloud

Without which there can be no rain      (‘My Wife’)

 

 And my thoughts

Roam aimlessly like a typical window-shopper       (‘Wandering Thoughts’)

Rajiv is forthcoming in his expression with poetic diction as observed in the poem, ‘Petition’. The textual fabric of expression in the poem demonstrates a distinct literary accomplishment as he appeals with optimism in spite of all odds:

Requesting a stay order

On the cancer gnawing away my vitals 

 

Today, the red flag from the doctors

Revealed

My petition has been rejected

The gods have not commuted the death sentence

……………………..

……………………..

Bring faith and joy 

As I wait

Hot, wet and not weary

To give you pleasures

Beyond measures 

Come before the glass hour sands drop down

Terrorism and heinous disturbances have been sketched in some of the poems. He is very much disturbed by the plight of ‘Pulwama’ attack and condemns the dreadful act by the terrorists:

 

I have  

Against the vulture

That sweeps down my garden

Every afternoon

Since “Pulwama” attack

 

While it ought to be dive bombing

 

With its flock

To feast

Across the LOC          (‘To The Pilots Who Visited Balakot’)

The poet engages himself in the corridor of love as observed in the poem, ‘Another Wait’, ‘Union’, ‘Dear Mate’, ‘A Dilemma’, ‘Call You Later’, ‘When She Is Around’, ‘The Suckables’, ‘Her Hands’, ‘A Backward Glance’, ‘My Darling’, ‘The Rain Forests’. The love poems are expressions of more visual manifestation and prosaic narration. Sometimes the images are infused with poetic elusiveness. The poet paints the touch of sensual feeling through crafted style:

The fourth ring

Satisfying to the mind as water to thirsty lips

Came like the bride carrying thoughts of budding love     (‘Call You Later’)

 

The sound of her voice

Her facial features

Her youthfulness

Her curves                             

               All a magic ticket

                                        A spy-hole into dreams   (‘When She Is Around’)

 Thoughts

That fed of each other

                                 Let loose

 

Were up all night

Painting the town red   (‘Her Hands’)

The poet is very sensitive to the prevailing social issues. He described the heinous plight of human trafficking, the painful life of the victim, and her expression out of anguish in the poem, ‘Pain Desiring Understanding’. 

 

Let your mother, sister, daughter

Or say your wife

Let them just merely imagine

Living my life, a single day

Like a piece of meat

                          

Only then, dare to   

Point moral compass towards us 

He has carefully touched the poverty, socio-economic, socio-political, and religious aspects in the poems like ‘The Debt’, ‘Dwelling with Denial’, ‘Guilty’, ‘Echo’, ‘The Kick’ and ‘Life As Usual on This Road’.

In the poem, ‘The Kick’, the poet allegorically portrays the contemporary images corroborating the social issue. It is a masterpiece of socio-sensibility.

The pothole

Took the kicks

Silently and with surrender

Just like the untouchables

Taking it

Since ages 

In the poem, ‘Life As Usual on This Road’ he portrays the road in a metaphorical sense and depicts the images of social condition:

 This was common place

It was life as usual on this road

 ‘Leave Some Words Unsaid’ is a poem that has quite similar in style to Ezekiel’s  ‘Goodbye Party for Miss Pushpa T.S.’ The emotional expression has been depicted in the verse:

 

Dear All

Let us leave some emotions and feelings unexpressed

Some words are best left unsaid                          

For no words can express how much you mean to us

May God bless you and make you ageless       

He laments the persistence of evils in society and portrays satire in his poem, ‘The Poem Unborn’. It is an eye-opener for all responsible citizens to rebuild society with modesty, decency, and mutual respect.

But each night

The unfinished tired poem

 

Goes to bed

With the pen

 

To wake up once again

To the same mundane routine

Childhood memories in the close-knitted family have been vividly narrated in verses like ‘Mother in Our Joint Family’, ‘Preschooler’s Conversation with Granddad and others. In the poem, ‘Destination’, the poet recalls childhood school and its plight in the complexity of modern life.

In the poem, ‘Critical Comments’, he concludes the verse with the touch of emotional childhood reminiscences:

 

“Nana – you do not know how to tell a story

I am leaving

                 Nani is better ”

His narration in the poem ‘Mother in Our Joint Family’ is heart-touching. He emotionally scripts:

When will I

Have the landscape of my mind   

Colored green

And do

What you do

Without complaints?   

He is good at unveiling the club-culture and extravaganza through satire by comparing it with modern jean-design and beggar’s cloth to reflect the prevalence of the contrasting societies as reflected in the poem, ‘Pleading in a Dubai Club’ and ended with a carelessness under the influence of modernity.

Some in designer slit jeans competing with a beggar’s clothing

……………….

……………….

Don’t-care-who-watches-me

Opening back to youth

 

Escapism

             Oxytocin released

Had unbridled fun

Until the small hours of the morning

Similarly how the use of modern gadgets, social sites have isolated everyone has been depicted in the poem, ‘Dreamy Expectation’.

 He wishes poetry to be a language of all entities and it needs to connect with the readers for better communication to build a tangible base.

And the magic of language compressed

Endlessly scrutable

Becomes a living entity

                                  Syllables and sutras come alive    

Connect

Grow within the reader     (‘A Successful Poet’)

 

Memories

Are familiar companions

A part of our lives

……………..

……………..

Emerging out of the blue

Through individual words

Picks and puts them next to one another

And the words fit in

Like bricks in their mortar base    (‘Poem-The Arrival’)

He defines the assimilation of self and the essence of the poem for crafting the elusive poetic insight.

And finds his own self

In the poem’s narrative

Then the poem

Can honestly claim

To be owned and understood     (‘Poem’s Claim to Lucidity’)

 Interestingly use of Indian cuisines in the Hindi in the poem titled  ‘Idée Fixe’ (meaning ‘Idea fixed’ in the French) is an interesting narration.

The vivid imageries created in the collection about the striking socio-economic aspects are worth reading and are stepping stones for reformation. Poetry on dreaming for love is a distinct addendum to contemporary literature having a touch of humour. The structural aspects of a few poems seem a bit didactic and prosaic in expression and the content of a couple of poems could have been modulated to resonate better poetic rhythms.

 

In the complex world, the poet tries to reconcile himself to the situation and leads a life assimilating the denials and obstructions. Appropriately he has coined the title of the collection,‘Dwelling with Denial’.

Bias and rejection

Have corroborated

To assure, we

The doubly disadvantaged

Be destined to dwell with denial 

 

*****   *****   *****   *****

 

 

Voices: Poverty in Haiku

Tony Pupello

I believe the most insidious and least examined of all the adverse effects upon the human condition are the effects that a state of poverty can have. Not, mind, a state of self-imposed abstinence or self-denial, or a kind of “hitting the road, come what may” attitude. This is based on conscious choice – I choose not to have material possessions, or I choose to live very modestly and without very many.

Abject poverty, in my view is, precisely, a lack of choice. In a state of abject poverty there is no choice; there are no options. Without options, one finds oneself (or a family finds itself), trapped, a victim to whatever winds are blowing.

This essay is an attempt to begin to look at abject poverty in haiku.

At the outset, in preparing for this essay, let me say I have done a great deal of research and I owe a debt of gratitude to Jim Kacian for sharing his Red Moon Anthology resources of over 20 years; and to Dee Evetts as someone who has been collecting work on issues of social justice for just as long. I am pointing this out for two reasons; first, of course, is to acknowledge the debt; second, however, is to point out as this is no small collection of resources – in addition to my own collection of journal issues and chapbooks dating almost 40 years – I was struck by the dearth of haiku dealing with poverty. There are many, many pieces dealing with war, the environment, politics, etc., all issues of social justice – yet there have been strikingly few pieces dealing with the issue of poverty directly.

We have heard social scientists speak of “middle-class values”. Lately, there has been a lot of talk regarding “entitlement” – especially as regards racial politics. I contend that “entitlement” is a real phenomenon not predicated upon race, per se – but upon class. This is not to dismiss by any means the notion of entitlement based on race – this is all too real. But it is to highlight that poor people, really poor people, poor folk of any race, creed or color – have a different mind-set and a value system that is simply not middle-class. A person with middle-class values has the expectation that there is some kind of something due them. They don’t have to “ask permission”. A poor person, one without middle-class values, is constantly questioning whether anything is due them – even that which they have earned. They must “ask permission” as it were because nothing is ever due them.

Quite some time ago, as a student of political philosophy, I came upon a radical, female, black feminist political theorist who wrote under the name “bell hooks”. Well, I won’t even try to approach what I know/do not know about being female or a feminist; nor will I even try to approach what I know/do not know about being black – so, I can say that bell hooks did not speak directly to me in her female, feminist nor black voice. However, in quite a number of her books and essays – of which there is a substantial body of work – she spoke very clearly and undeniably to me in a voice I immediately recognized. She spoke to me as someone who had known true poverty; she spoke to me in that inescapable “poor voice” I knew all too well. She spoke to me in her birth voice, with her birth name – “Gloria Jean Watkins” – and as Gloria Jean Watkins her communication was plain, direct and very, very real and intelligible to me. So, too, the piece below by one of the most famous American authors of the 20th Century speaks to me.

             I am paying rent
             For the lice in my cold room
             And the moonlight too.

As many who wrote English-language haiku in the “very early days”, Richard Wright followed the conventions of syllable count, capitalization and a final period. This piece, from someone who knew first-hand the sting of poverty, exhibits a great deal of detachment and restraint. Of course, it also shares the irony many poor people contend with – actually a double-irony, as it were. The flat is cold and lice-infested. One has to be constantly on guard against lice – once infected they bite incessantly and can be maddening in no small measure. Here in a “poor voice” Wright speaks to the bitter irony of having to pay not only for the cold but for the lice as well. Bitter as it may be, perhaps he realizes he at least has the money to pay for a roof over his head. In a more poetic turn, there is the Zen-like irony of the beautiful moonlight being shared in the room as well.

The next two poems speak to the direst of poverty situations – literally losing a roof over one’s head – that of eviction itself. The first is by Charles B. Dickson, the second by Stephen C. Curro.

    evicted hooker:            eviction notice
    her mattress              my daughter asks
    at the curb              about dinner

Perhaps one of the most horrible effects of poverty is an actual eviction – second only to the fear and anxiety that an eviction notice might produce. In many cases an eviction notice – usually heralded by the big, bold, title “Notice of Eviction” – includes language that a tenant is “dispossessed” by a landlord – literally a landlord removes “possession” of a dwelling from that tenant. Imagine the fear of being dispossessed – literally to be deprived of a living space that never truly was yours to begin with.

Dickson’s piece hinges on the hooker’s mattress. Indeed, if one were cold-hearted, one might even get a chuckle at this piece. Clearly, there is a great deal of complexity in focusing on the mattress. While I choose to believe it was not Dickson’s intent to provoke any sort of humor at all, I do wonder if, looking from the outside, does he feel/know the hooker’s sense of fear and abandonment and, yes, perhaps even shame? Whether intended or not, Dickson’s piece works on yet another, much deeper level – not only is the hooker dispossessed of her dwelling but, in the embodiment of the mattress, she is also dispossessed of the means of her livelihood. This raises another set of issues, the lengths to which folks might go to avoid poverty – in this case the notion of selling oneself outright – but that might be a topic for another time.

Curro’s piece seems to me to be coming much more from the “inside” as it were. Here is a parent, clearly in dire straits, forced into having to contemplate his family’s being moved “out on the street” as it were. In addition to worrying about clothing, bedding, furniture and all other familial and meager possessions being out on display – right there on the sidewalk for all neighbors and passersby to see – to be witnesses to the family’s shame and humiliation – he is also confronting a more immediate threat as well – “my daughter asks/about dinner.” We can only hope this is an everyday distraction that points to the daughter’s innocence, her naivete, her lack of knowledge of impending doom. We can only hope the father is juxtaposing the horror of an eviction notice with the commonplace query of a child “what’s for dinner” or “when is dinner”. However, in a more ominous vein, I think this may not be the case. It seems to me the father is confronting the immediate horror of hunger as well. Going, ofttimes for days, without food – not out of choice because one is fasting or trying to lose weight quickly – but because one is, again, without choices. Feeling the emptiness in the pit of your stomach that goes on and on without ending because there is, simply, no food to eat and no money to purchase any food with. How does a parent explain this to a child? And how does that child understand it? And how does eviction and hunger shape that child’s perspective later on?

In the next two pieces, by Sanjukta Asopa and Curtis Dunlap respectively, dwelling and hunger are again under consideration.

    shanty town —              recession —
    the jagged edges              poke salad growing
    of moonlight               in a sidewalk crack

In our haiku/senryū universe we often invoke moonlight in a setting of harmony. In Asopa’s piece, however, the jagged moonlight is a reflection of the uneasiness of living in a state of squalor – both literally and figuratively. One can actually picture moonlight reflecting off of uneven pieces of roofing – various metals, plastics, found materials – that are arranged in various lengths, sizes and angles.

Although it may have medicinal purposes, how many of us would actually eat a “weed” or something that is grown literally in sidewalk cracks? In Dunlap’s piece, the pokeweed, which would literally be growing out of sidewalk cracks, is already transformed into poke salad. For many poor folk, recession or not, a poke salad may help fill their bellies, may help in their sustainability. This reminds me of the harvesters of the ginko nuts that fall onto city sidewalks right here in New York City. At least in their outward appearance, these folks look as though they could use a meal supplement and would not be found shopping at Whole Foods nor the like.

I would like to close with an offering from Pravat Kumar Padhy.

             long walk —
             the slum boys stare at
             the distant stars

We can choose to look at this piece as one in which a lack of options is what is and will never change. The slum dwellers, boys really just starting out in life, face a “long walk” – a hard road if you will. They have probably already experienced the harsh reality of what their lives will be. And the stars, beautiful as they may be, are distant and totally out of reach. Perhaps this is the reality.

I choose to look at it in another light – in spite of the lack of choice and options found in a state of abject poverty, there is one thing that poor folk cling to – unless they succumb to utter despair – hope. Yes, the road may be long and hard and, yes, the stars are distant. But there is undeniable beauty in the stars and since time immemorial the stars have been symbolic of something greater and with more possibilities than ourselves. I find hope in this piece.

“When you Wish Upon a Star” was a very favorite of a woman who lived most of her life in poverty yet never succumbed to despair. But that is for another time.

Publication Credit: tsuri door, Issue #7, Jan-Feb 2022

https://tsuridoro.org/voices-poverty-in-haiku

 

 Haiku: The Poem of Brevity and Beauty

By Pravat Kumar Padhy

Introduction 

Haiku is a Japanese art form of poetry having a long and rich history of more than 400 years. Haiku is considered the shortest non-rhyming Japanese poetry form, written in three lines, in 5-7-5 format, with a total of 17  morae (sound units).In the Japanese language, the common poetic measurement is morae or sound units which is not equivalent to the syllable counts of English.

Generally, the strict syllable style is not followed in English, and it is written in the form of short/long/short lines, all in lowercase. The art of haiku writing is a way of imaging nature (kocho-fuei) and exploring human feeling and awareness. It also enunciates a contemplation of spiritualism and the realization of self-being as a part of nature (zen-feeling or ethical goodness of Buddhist lineage). Haiku is an objective-based poem, composed in a brief and minimalistic way. 

Historical Perspective

Japanese literature is largely inspired by Chinese literature during the Tang Dynasty (618-907) in China. Waka or uta originated in the 7th century AD in Japan and was later known as tanka (five-line poem). The waka was written on seasonal subjects (kidai). The schemata or morae (sound units) patterns follow 5-7-5-7-7 (known as ‘sanjuichi’, the Japanese word for 31). Towards the end of the twelfth century, the 5-7-5-7-7 (waka) format had been slowly modified by dividing it into 5-7-5 and 7-7. By the fourteenth century, this took the shape of renga written in sequence by the participating poets writing 5-7-5 by one poet and 7-7 by the other poet. Renga (series or chains of poems) is the Japanese collaborative linked poem of classical nature and its later derivative, renku (haikai no renga, developed in the sixteenth century). Haikai, a type of renga poetry, consists of at least 100 verses with alternating stanzas, or ku, of 5-7-5 and 7-7 mora (sound unit) per line and are linked in succession by the poets practicing during the Edo period.  In the sixteenth century the opening stanza or the starting verse (5-7-5, go schichi go) of renga was named as ‘hokku’ and the last two-line (second verse) as ‘wakiku’. 

Matsuo Basho (1644-1694) was the pioneer of writing classical ‘hokku’ and he had rendered aesthetic values to the verse writing with the brilliant poetic spell. He pioneered master pieces of haikai including related genres and assimilated commonness and human aspects into the genres. Later Masaoka Shiki (1867-1902) christened “hokku” to “haiku” (hai means amusement and ku means verse; ha-i-ku, 3-sound in Japanese) at the end of the nineteenth century. ‘Hototogisu’ is considered the oldest and reputed journal founded by one of the disciples of Shiki in 1897.  

Japanese haiku comprises three sections namely kami go (the top five-section), naka shichi (the middle seven-section), and shimo go (the lower five-section). Haiku consists of 17 ‘on’ or ‘morae’ (sound units) written in Japanese in a vertical single line (top to bottom) with no spacing. There is no concept of syllables in the Japanese language. The 17 (5-7-5) sound-unit or phonetic-unit (on or more) is roughly equivalent to 12 (3-5-3) syllables in English. Hence it is not possible to translate Japanese haiku into English in the same format. For example, ‘akai’ in Japanese has three sounds (a/ka/i). The word ‘akai’ means red and it is one syllable in English. In the English language, the schema is widely practiced as short/long/short (s/l/s) form in haiku writing instead of strictly following the syllable count. In the Japanese language, unlike in English, due to the presence of grammatical particles (joshi) that are suffixed to nouns with syntactic relationships, the word units can be moved or shifted within a sentence without affecting its overall core meaning. The Japanese have no plural for their nouns. Hence, we speak of haiku and never haikus. 

Haiku of Japanese Masters

Matsua Basho (1644-1694),Yosa Busan (1716-1783), Kobayashi Issa (1763-1827) and, Mosaoka Shiki (1867-1902) are the Masters of  Haiku literature,   including  Chiyo-ni (1703-1775), a great women haikuist. 

Some of the memorable haiku by the Masters, are exemplified below:

old pond

a frog jumps into
the sound of water

-Basho (Tr. Jane Reichhold) 

the sea darkens

a wild duck's call
faintly white

-Basho (Tr. Makoto Ueda)

Evening wind:
water laps
the heron's legs.
-Buson (Tr. Robert Hass)

O snail

Climb Mount Fuji,

But slowly, slowly!

-Issa (Tr. R H Blyth)

I'm trying to sleep!

Please swat the flies
lightly

-Shiki (Tr. Michael R. Burch)

green grass—

between, between the blades

the colour of the water

-Chiyo-ni (Tr. Patricia Donegan and Yoshie Ishibashi)

Basic Elements and Characteristics of Haiku Writing

Haiku is considered the shortest non-rhyming Japanese poetry form. Haiku is unique in its form and simplistic expression with reference to season or nature. The basic elements (teikei) of haiku are the seasonal reference (kigo), the surrealistic silence in the form of pause (kireji), juxtaposition (renso), depth and mystery (yugen), contained space (ma), becomingness (kokora), lightness (karumi), creativeness (zoko), elegance (fuga) and simplicity (iki). It is the art of capturing the happening at the present moment and leaving the interpretation to the readers without telling it (show but do not tell) with brevity (less is more). Denis M. Garrison says, ‘It is a commonplace to say that the haiku reader “co-creates the haiku” by adding from his/her own experiential context to the haiku and, thereby, completing it.’ Unexpectedness (atarashimi) and drifting mood (nioi) in expression also render beauty to haiku.

The haiku contains two images, in the form of ‘fragment’ (Line 1) and ‘phrase’ (Lines 2 and 3), and they juxtapose each other either as association or contrast. The fragment could also be expressed in the third line. The art of juxtaposition (comparison, a contrast or an association, link and shift concept) between the images of fragment and phrase is an exploration of reasoning and poetical logic. 

Between fragment and phrase, there lies a surrealistic silence in the form of pause (kireji) or cutting word. In English, it is denoted by punctuation and one can put ‘dash’ or ‘dots’ (ellipsis) to separate the two distinct images and to provide structural support for haiku. It is a sort of spoken punctuation that marks a pause and gives emphasis to one part of the poem. It interestingly divides and unites the images at the same time. If the poet thinks that the expression is explicit for the reader to understand the images without difficulty, the natural pause itself takes care of the cutting word. The “Kireji” (ya, kana, keri, nari), in its sublime form, sparks the juxtaposition or disjunction of the two images facilitating a “leap”. At no point, haiku should be a sentence broken into three lines. The line ending (both fragment and phrase) should be a complete thought or expression. Haiku could be also a single image (ichibutsujitate).  

Haiku is written about the keen observation of happenings around nature in the present or human aspects related to nature based on the experience through five senses (sound, sight, taste, touch, and smell). Bashō, a haiku master, said that ‘haiku is what is happening in this place and in this time,’ Haiku techniques like the technique of comparison, contrast, association, sense-switching, narrowing the focus from zoom-out to zoom-in was practiced by haiku poet Buson. Another haiku pioneer, Shiki’s Shasei (sketch from life), creative use of yugen (depth, mystery), wabi (simplicity), sabi (solitude), artful exchange of verbs and nouns etc have been enumerated by Jane Reichhold in ‘Bare Bones: School of Haiku’. The truthfulness of the poet to explore nature with poetic elegance (miyabi) having human expressions (joy, emotion, humour, etc) is the cornerstone of the genre. 

Sometimes, as opined by Jane Reichhold, the middle line (pivot-line of a haiku) artfully reflects multiple interpretations by joining with Line 1 and also with Line 3. Here a pause after the Line 1 is not preferred. In the following haiku, line 2 can be associated with line 1, also with line 3.

Willow branches bend

with the river current
ducks drift backwards

-Martin Lucas

Haiku is not a sentence, hence there is no capital letter or full stop in haiku writing, and there is no title of the haiku. Haiku is written in lowercase. Additionally, the two images should not reflect the simple cause and effect. It is not to narrate the imagery or to tell everything, but to ‘show’, so that readers can unfold the multilayered interpretation embedded within the haiku. Use of clichés, simile, metaphor (with exception of implied poetic predicament and poetic allusions), adjectives, adverbs, and conditional clauses are not encouraged in writing haiku. Generally, in haiku personification or anthropomorphism is avoided. Haiku is to be written in brief with clarity, freshness and it is better to avoid unnecessary words, overlaps or repetition.

The poem reflects the present happening (hence preferred to be composed in present tense) with a seasonal reference. Mere reference of ‘summer season’ or ‘winter season’ does not complete the requirement. One can use reference of a particular tree, animal, bird, observation, astronomy, livelihood, cultural aspect, time and place, etc. to imply the seasonal words or kigo. For instance, cherry blossom for spring’, frog to denote spring, early plum for early winter; tea flower referring to early winter, red leaves representing late autumn, rice sparrow for implying autumn etc. Generally, reference of one kigo word is favored in haiku, though multi-kigos were also used. The art of haiku dwells in capturing the image in an aesthetic and simple way without any poetic ornamentation or moral, abstract, didactic or intellectual allusions. The art of haiku writing lies in the multiple meanings that it carries for the readers to think and interpret.

There are different linked forms or genres of haiku such as Monoku (one-line haiku), haibun (prose interspersed with haiku), haiga (drawing or photo with haiku). Senryu, written in haiku style, is more of witty, satire in tandem with human attributes and can be composed with non-seasonal (muki) reference. There is also contemporary experimental style like free verse haiku known as ‘gendai’ (gendai means ‘modern’, like ‘avant-garde’in English). Recently parallel haiku written by Johannes S. H. Bjerg, Hansha Teki and others have gained popularity. Experiments of writing concrete haiku (deeper meaning along with visual storyline), four-line haiku (haiqua) or Celtic haiku practiced by Toto, two-line haiku written by Vincent Tripti, David Reynold, Robert Boldman, and others, circular haiku (cirku) and one-word haiku or ‘tundra’ by Cor van den Heuvel, have enriched the scope of the genre.

Haiku Spirit 

Simple swinging of hands and twisting of fingers cannot create the experience of dance performance. There need to be graceful postures, a poignant space in between and selfless manifestation for the audience to share the divine nectar. Hence a mere wordplay won’t compose a poem. The manifestation of awareness, freshness, poetic truth, and honesty is the lighthouse of the haiku spirit.  W Hackett says, ‘Lifefulness, not beauty, is the real quality of haiku’. Art of haiku writing is a way of imaging nature (kocho-fuei), human aspects, both living and non-living entities to explore the human feeling with poetic resonance. Haiku is unique in its form and simplistic expression with reference to season or nature as a whole. I feel it is the realization of this truth and zen-feeling (ethical goodness) that has given rise to the genesis of the haiku poem. It unveils the poetic wealth hidden in the ordinary. 

 Ryokan (1758-1831), a Japanese Buddhist monk and a poet, wrote poems about nature rich with zen-feeling. While narrating how the thief broke into his hut and stole his things leaving a cushion, he tried to offer it to the robber and composed the iconic haiku:

The thief left it behind:

the moon

at my window.

(Tr. Stephen Mitchell)

Intuitive response, self-experience, poetic rhythm, occasionally with a sense humor, are some of the essential entities of good haiku. Haiku reflects simplicity and honesty in expression without any artifice, complexity, or pretention. It portrays a concrete image with clarity (horizontal axis) and at the same time transgresses into a different dimension of aesthetic interpretation (vertical axis).  

 

Conclusion

The spirit of haiku dwells in the aesthetic values of the tiniest things of this beautiful creation. Weaving the thread with zen-feeling, by assimilating the self-awareness with the ordinary, is the art of haiku in its minimalism. The poet needs to facilitate the reader to visualize the journey of growth of a beautiful tree out of the brevity of the seed of haiku. Let haiku create a sense of silence and substance in the reader’s mind. Let the reader explore the layered meanings culminating in an epiphany of the sublime experience. I wish to conclude with George Steiner’s line: ‘When the word of the poet ceases, a great light begins’.

​~Pravat Kumar Padhy

https://www.thewiseowl.art/haiku

The Wise Owl, January Issue 2022