Haikus for You's!

There's something to be said for (good) haiku. 

Lucien Stryk says this of (GOOD!) haiku poetry, 

"The effect is one of sparseness, yet the reader is aware of a microcosm related to transcendent unity. A moment, crystallized, distilled, snatched from time's flow, and that is enough." 

It's from the introduction of Basho's "On Love and Barley - Haiku of Basho". 

Haiku poetry gets to me because of it's moment-crystallizing capabilities. It's a whole feeling, a whole moment, encapsulated in a tiny phrase. It's at once surface level and emotionally all encompassing - making it one of the forms most capable of honestly describing a moment. There's no fluff, no grandiose displays, only genuine observation - and blunt emotion. 

These are some of my favorite Basho poems : 

      ***

Behind the virgins' 

quarters,

one blossoming plum.

      ***

Sparrow, spare

the horsefly

dallying in flowers.

      ***

Has it returned,

the snow 

we viewed together?

      ***

Cicada - did it

chirp till it

knew nothing else?

      ***

Girl cat, so

thin on love

and barley.

Then there's Suzuki Masajo, a female poet born in 1906 and died in 2003. 

She was a kick-ass lady, and her life is well worth researching, full of torrid love affairs, and feisty feminine independence.   She takes a more modern approach to poetry, while still paying homage to those who came before her. Her poetry focuses more on the emotional side of the art form, while still maintaining that famous almost clinical haiku tone. 

Some Suzuki Masajo poems: 

      ***

light silk kimono - 

having an affair that makes

someone else unhappy

      ***

1956

to a field of violets

coming like sinful persons

two of us

      ***

1958 

longing for my beloved - 

I warm a green berry 

in the palm of my hand

      ***

1961

wishing to fall in love,

I pop a strawberry 

into my mouth.

      ***

1960

pouring each other beer, 

these men with whom I shall never

make love

      ***

not a word for me

he just continues to watch

the winter waves.

There's a lot of good haiku out there. It doesn't naturally fit into our usual western forms of expression. It's unfamiliarity is what gives it the potential to be so cutting, so exacting, so effective. 

See kids, haiku is pretty rad!