Shaken, broken:
a skinful of frozen ink
diced across the day
The mountain poems
shine whitely at dawn: I can't
chant them, they sing themselves.
Eleanor's phone call:
we did not speak, but we talked--
in hazy moonshine.
No hay nadie
que hablar con el Senor
sin silencio.
Notes about Form
Haiku originated as the beginning verses of longer poems, and became an art form in itself thanks to multiple influences: Chinese mountains-and-rivers poetry, Ch'an Buddhism, and the focus of three famous greats in the form: Basho, Buson, and Issa, and their critics, themselves haiki masters: Shiki and Kyorai are my main references. Generally, the form includes the time of season, for which there are many metaphors. The 5-7-5 rhythm matches the Japanese language but doesn't convert with the same grace and lightness in English. Longer poems (renga, tanaka, and related forms) have some of the same aspects that ancient Hebrew poetry does, in its style of repetition and layering of metaphor to bring together large and small, distant and near, and spiritual and mundane elements. The presence of these help qualify good poetry and they are the goal. I have experimented with other languages to access additional metaphors with no claim to quality. I am just a student.
a skinful of frozen ink
diced across the day
Sunbreak in the clouds!
It must be the crows flying
to mark the solstice.
It must be the crows flying
to mark the solstice.
The mountain poems
shine whitely at dawn: I can't
chant them, they sing themselves.
we did not speak, but we talked--
in hazy moonshine.
The quill from a crow
seems to darken as I write;
Autumn's testament.
seems to darken as I write;
Autumn's testament.
On the shortest day,
entre le chien et le loup--
people trudging home.
entre le chien et le loup--
people trudging home.
No hay nadie
que hablar con el Senor
sin silencio.
Haiku originated as the beginning verses of longer poems, and became an art form in itself thanks to multiple influences: Chinese mountains-and-rivers poetry, Ch'an Buddhism, and the focus of three famous greats in the form: Basho, Buson, and Issa, and their critics, themselves haiki masters: Shiki and Kyorai are my main references. Generally, the form includes the time of season, for which there are many metaphors. The 5-7-5 rhythm matches the Japanese language but doesn't convert with the same grace and lightness in English. Longer poems (renga, tanaka, and related forms) have some of the same aspects that ancient Hebrew poetry does, in its style of repetition and layering of metaphor to bring together large and small, distant and near, and spiritual and mundane elements. The presence of these help qualify good poetry and they are the goal. I have experimented with other languages to access additional metaphors with no claim to quality. I am just a student.
