haikaiTALKS: a saturday gathering! 24th august

haikaiTALKS: haiku aesthetics - karumi | a saturday gathering_under the banyan tree

host: Lev Hart

24th August 2024

haikaiTALKS: a saturday gathering_under the banyan tree

Haiku Aesthetics: karumi

Your host for haikaiTALKS Lev Hart

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AESTHETICS: karumi

John Pappas lets his inner child write the haiku:

       pine shadows

       the snail and I

       crossing paths

       (HAIKUsutradhar, May 27, 2023)

The words are simple, and their meaning is clear. The images aim at simple beauty, as opposed to gorgeousness. They are based on everyday experience, rather than the exotic. There is no ornamentation. The verse is whimsical, as if the poet and the snail were saying, “After you . . . No, after you . . . Please, I insist . . . “ John’s ku avoids cleverness, it does not have a message, and it does not include personal reflection. It seems artless. In all of these respects, his haiku is like a child’s. We see lightheartedness, light humour and a very light touch by the poet, all of which are characteristic of karumi, which means, “lightness.”

His haiku, of course, is not artless at all. The word “snail” is a summer kigo, suggesting heat, which makes the pine shadows feel cool by comparison. The images engage multiple senses. We can feel the cool and smell the pines. The atmosphere of the verse is all around us. L2 suggests a camaraderie between the snail and the poet. He is a part of nature, not apart from it. The idea that the snail and the poet could cross paths suggests that he --- at least, for the moment --- is taking life at the same slow pace. To connect every aspect of a verse to its kigo is the acme of skill. Finally, John has embedded the kigo in the phrase, rather than making it the fragment. Only a good poet can embed a kigo in the phrase, which is why you rarely see it done. It's much easier to make the kigo the fragment, and "get it out of the way." So much poetry packed into 10 syllables!

Your mission, should you decide to accept it, is to write two haiku with karumi. Compose them with simple images, based on your ordinary experience. Avoid capping a nature image with personal reflection, or with a message. Children don't think that way. Aim for whimsy, and remember to include the kigo.

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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