haikaiTALKS: a saturday gathering! 28th September.

haikaiTALKS: haiku aesthetics - THE MOON: Part 1| a saturday gathering_under the banyan tree

host: Lev Hart

28th September 2024

haikaiTALKS: a saturday gathering_under the banyan tree

Haiku Aesthetics: THE MOON: Part 1

Your host for haikaiTALKS Lev Hart

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** THE MOON: Part 1

In Padma’s haiku, the autumn kigo in L1 shapes our understanding of the whole verse:

       moonless night

       the whistle of someone

       walking home

       (Padma Rajeswari, HAIKUsutradhar, March 27, 2024.)

Without the kigo, the verse would seem relatively mundane. The kigo deepens the ku by linking it to traditionally autumnal themes. Jane Reichhold lists a few such themes:

abandonment	emptiness	lingering summer thoughts	regret
aging	endings	loneliness	sadness
arguments	fear	longing	the unknown
belief in spirits	grief	loss	the unseen

In the context of “the whistle of someone / walking home,” the themes of loneliness, fear and the unseen appear to become especially meaningful. Padma’s someone is perhaps whistling to bolster his courage as he walks alone on a particularly dark night.

This week’s goal is to write two haiku with kigo referring to the autumn moon. Tradition assumes that all references to the moon are autumnal, unless the haiku indicates otherwise, so there’s no need to say, “autumn moon.” The second and third links below might give you some ideas for lunar kigo, although “the moon,” by itself, is sufficient. Ideally, your kigo will deepen the meaning of the verse, while the verse narrows the meaning of your kigo, pointing to a few of the season’s traditional themes and sweeping the rest aside. Simply ensure that your haiku contains no other seasonal references.

1) “A Dictionary of Haiku Classified by Season Words with Traditional and Modern Methods,” by Jane Reichhold (search the PDF for "Autumn Moods"):

https://thehaikufoundation.org/omeka/files/original/7fb6654a1dfd1afef97369da920530f8.pdf

2) Moon in Autumn (includes many possible kigo):

https://worldkigodatabase.blogspot.com/2010/07/moon-in-autumn.html

3) What Are The Moon’s Phases? (includes many possible kigo)

https://spaceplace.nasa.gov/moon-phases/en/

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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