Comments on: A New View on Haiku

By: Jason Crane

Jason Crane — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 01:25:53 +0000

Thanks for this post. Just a quick note that the Modern Haiku link at the end of the post has a misspelled URL. The correct link is:

http://www.modernhaiku.org/

Jason

By: Arthur Durkee

Arthur Durkee — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 14:58:36 +0000

Mixed feelings here. On the one hand, it’s nice to see some Harriet denizens (re-)discover what practicing haijin have long known, that the moment is much more important than the “pure” form, although it’s quite possible to do both together. On the other hand, one detects a faint whiff of (probably unintentional) condescension, the dismissiveness of which is probably no-one’s fault as it is rooted in the way most folks are introduced to haiku in grade school: very superficially. The one thing haiku is NOT, is superficial.

Having been involved in this poetry for most of my life, I can attest that haiku writing and appreciation can go much, much deeper than the cute poems most beginners come up with. It’s sort of like playing the recorder: anyone can pick up the instrument and play a few notes, but to really master it, to make music with it, will require much more extensive study.

Basho described haiku-writing as a Way, the Way of Poetry. If one wishes to explore in this direction, which goes very far beyond the purely formal elements of haiku, one might look into Sam Hamill’s “The Essential Basho” or Robert Hass’ “The Essential Haiku.” When mentoring beginning haijin, I usually recommend William J. Higginson’s “The Haiku Handbook: How to write, share and teach haiku,” which isn’t just a how-to manual but contains an anthology of examples. When they’re ready for it, I usually recommend Makoto Ueda’s books, or Robert Aitken Roshi’s “A Zen Wave: Basho’s haiku and Zen,” which gets at what the haiku moment is about better than most other studies.

laptop on knees,
glass of orange juice at hand—
morning pages

By: Michael Zarowny

Michael Zarowny — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 03:20:22 +0000

Great post, oconnojo. It actually inspired me to think about writing haikus. Before I just thought they were kinda stupid actually haha. I just wish you’d have given some examples of the haikus you submitted before realizing their meaning or at least some haikus that aren’t up to Speiss’s standards. To end this comment I will put a Haiku by one of my 9 year old sister’s classmates (Cory D) that I find to be genius.

“HAIKU
Tiger Moth
Red Yellow Orange
Pooping in the Field
-Cory D’

By: Michael Theune

Michael Theune — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 02:08:39 +0000

As you can see from the July 14, 2009, post (”Taking Turns (for Granted) in Sijo and Haiku”) over at

http://structureandsurprise.wordpress.com/

I agree with the significance of Reichhold’s thinking on haiku. Thanks for mentioning her work!

By: Joelle Biele

Joelle Biele — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 23:58:22 +0000

I really like Issa–such a warm sense of humor– Robert Hass’s translations are really nice–I think because he keeps the form loose.

By: John Oliver Simon

John Oliver Simon — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 19:24:35 +0000

hey watermelons
if the flarf poets come by
turn into toadstools

By: Jessie Carty

Jessie Carty — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 16:25:04 +0000

When I returned to writing and reading poetry after a dismal 5 year absence I came back through the world of haiku I found “Writing and Enjoying Haiku: A Hands-on Guide (Paperback)
~ Jane Reichhold” to be a very helpful guide as I started out. I’d also give a shout out to the little journal “bear creek haiku” Great post!