haikaiTALKS: a saturday gathering! 20th July

haikaiTALKS: season words / seasonal reference | a saturday gathering_under the banyan tree

host: Lev Hart

20th July 2024

haikaiTALKS: a saturday gathering_under the banyan tree

THE SEASONS: Summary

Over the last several weeks, we have seen how seasonal references deepen haiku. The seasons, because of their impact on human existence over the past 10,000 years, have accumulated countless meanings. Similarly, a kigo can evoke myriad emotions. Its range of potential emotions is narrowed by its context with the rest of the verse.

Conversely, the same verse without the kigo can appear mundane. Its meaningfulness is deepened by the kigo, distilling the season into the moment. The kigo is the macrocosm; and the rest of the verse, the microcosm. While the verse narrows the meaning of the kigo, the kigo deepens the meaning of the verse. The connection between the season and the moment creates a kind of harmony. The harmony of the images suggests the harmony in nature. Haiku evoke the feelings that we experience whenever we sense this natural harmony, from the lighthearted feelings of karumi to the mystery and awe of yugen.

Your mission, should you decide to accept it, is to write two haiku about the season of your choice. You can choose kigo from one of the saijiki below, or you can make up your own. Use the kigo to represent the season and add a phrase that shows us the moment. By connecting the season with the moment, your images will evoke the feelings and meaning of the season, even if the poet makes no mention of herself, and even if no people are in the ku. The juxtaposition of nature images, all by themselves, is enough to evoke feelings and meanings. In the next few weeks, we’ll move on to take a deeper look at some of the concepts that we have glossed until now: karumi, yugen and wabi-sabi.

The 500 Essential Japanese Season Words:

http://www.2hweb.net/haikai/renku/500ESWd.html#NEW%20YEAR-THE%20HEAVENS

indian subcontinent SAIJIKI:

         https://www.trivenihaikai.in/indian-saijiki

To hear George Harrison’s “All Things Must Pass,” go to:

       https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QWV4pFV5nX4

Your host for haikaiTALKS Lev Hart

<> <> <>

Thank you for doing this for us, Lev.

Members,

Please give your feedback on others' commentary and poems too. _()_

This is an exciting phase for haikaiTALKS! Have fun! Keep writing and commenting! _kala