Haiku nights: going to bed with Issa again; he’s wintering too.
Notes:
I'm reading this book (pictured) in bed every night lately; at present looking at his winter haiku – while it's winter for me too just now, here in the Southern Hemisphere.
Written for Weekly Scribblings #78 at Poets and Storytellers United, where Magaly invites us to choose one of several micro-forms.
Ironic, perhaps, that I didn't choose a haiku to reference Issa, one of the great haiku masters. But then, this piece is more senryu than haiku – and an American sentence can be either ... or neither.
[Is a poem actually working when the explanations are longer than it?]
Issa, probably Jesus in Arabic or Islam? Or your cat? Good on the American Haiku format. The form needs more for my mind and eyes so I stay with the conventional 17 in three lines. Plus I add a title, that is harder to place with the American. (do the Aussies have another name for it?)
ReplyDelete..
To answer your points in reverse order –
DeleteNo, they are called American Sentences in any country, because Allen Ginsberg invented them, and that's what he called them. (And he was American, of course.)
I was brought up to believe titles for haiku are anathema!
The American sentence is also 17 syllables. I believe haiku proper don't have to be, but I don't mind if they are – so long as people don't imagine that's the ONLY rule.
Yes, I understand that Issa is indeed an Arabic version of the name Jesus. However, the Issa I refer to is the haiku master Kobayashi Issa. I had hoped the book cover illustration would make it clear I was reading in bed.
I'd better add a note of explanation!
DeleteYou probably won't need an explanation, I didn't read the author of the book, partly lazy here and partly because on my smart phone here that small line wasn't readable to me. I have used it for everything since my computer crashed more than two years ago. Plus I wasn't familiar with that author. Those are excuses and excuses, I am sorry.
Delete..
No apologies necessary, Jim. I confess I never thought about people reading this on their phones! My bad.
DeleteDo have a look for some of Issa's haiku online. I think you would enjoy his compassion and humour. He's very humble and down-to-earth, too.
Well without reading the explanation, it made me smile. It has the very familiar friendly feels of all book lovers diving deep into a favorite book and relishing the points of connection they find within it.
ReplyDeleteOh, thank you, Rommy! That was exactly the mood I was trying for.
DeleteNothing better than a book of poetry in bed!
ReplyDeleteIt's a lovely way to finish the day.
DeleteI have The Haiku Handbook by William J. Higginson on my bookshelf. A great reference book for haiku.
ReplyDeleteAh, he's someone I mean to explore. I've had Harold G Henderson's 'Haiku in English' for a long time, and plan to re-read it after Issa.
DeleteThe haiku worked just fine without the explanation. I could imagine you reading Issa's winter words in winter very clearly. And I like your choice of an American Sentence. I always see it like an American take on the haiku (and senryu, too). Not the original, but one that has grown like the West--affected, in an interesting way, by its environment.
ReplyDeleteAlso, the end of the explanation made me grin.
In light of that last remark of mine, I'm glad to know the explanation wasn't altogether needed. *Grin.*
DeleteP.S. I've been reading a bit of Greg Nagan's The 5-Minute Iliad and Other Instant Classics: Great Books For The Short Attention Span before bed. It's such a hoot!
ReplyDeleteOh, that sounds like one I must get!
DeleteHave now grabbed it on Kindle.
DeleteA good book is a great bedtime companion! Lovely American Sentence. That's the form I used too.
ReplyDeleteI always read a little before I close my eyes.
DeleteThis is a great, deep, unique American Sentence poem! Cheers.
ReplyDeleteThank you! I am thinking I might come back to this form more often; I really enjoy using it, but have only seldom done so.
DeleteIn winter reading about winter, luv the resonance
ReplyDeleteHappy Wednesday
Much💜love
Thanks, Gillena.
DeleteI'm sure we were all briefly shocked until we realized you were just reading in bed! I must check Issa!
ReplyDeleteAh, you have a naughty mind, dear Bev – just the kind I like!
DeleteYour poem is so clever on several levels not the least the connection you two have to winter. I really like this one.
ReplyDeleteIsn't it great, how through poetry we can connect with people from other eras and places? Our common humanity!
DeleteWintering but feeling warm. Something about crawling beneath the covers with a good book.
ReplyDeleteIt's a very good habit!
DeleteI like many of Issa's writings. This is a fine tribute.
ReplyDeleteThank you. I think he's very likeable. Something of the person comes through the writing.
Delete