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:
indian subcontinent SAIJIKI:
To hear George Harrison’s “All Things Must Pass,” go to:
Your host for haikaiTALKS Lev Hart
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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
#2 - 27/07/24
winter grove
a rooster runs after me
and my dog
Kanjini Devi, NZ
feedback welcome
#1 25/07
Revision 1. Thank you very much Lev
lost treasure
crickets singing
of early frost
Fatma Zohra Habis/ Algeria
The Original
the whisper of early frost
silent night of
crickets singing
feedback welcome 🌹🥀
#2
**
snowstorm
cat prints lead
to the hearth
**
[2024.25.7…a]
Alfred Booth
Lyon, France
(feedback welcome)
25.07.2024
#2
Revision. Thank you, Lev.
windy day
peeping through my window
an old song
Kalyanee Arandhara
Assam, India
Feedback most welcome
Original:
windy day
aah! this airy respite
in summer
Kalyanee Arandhara
Assam, India
Feedback most welcome
#2
24-07-2024
oak moon—
your cold silence fills
the room
Padma Priya
India
feedback welcome
(oak moon is used as a winter kigo here)