haikaiTALKS: ONE-LINE HAIKU - a saturday gathering_under the banyan tree
host: Richa Sharma
1st April, 2023
Seasonality
Part 1
At all times, discussions have mostly emphasized the usage of a “seasonal word” (kigo) in writing poetry. Using a seasonal reference has been considered vital as a form of polite greeting.
Saijiki (poetic seasonal almanacs) systematically categorize almost all aspects of nature and much of human activity by the cycle of the four seasons.
The agricultural heritage in each country makes us all very sensitive to the cycle of four seasons.
Haiku is a genre in which not only images of nature are constructed according to cultural perceptions, but it also contributes to shaping our social and cultural attitudes toward the environment.
as I walk the earth moves on birdsong
Kala Ramesh
Presence, November 2022
Ever since I read this poem, it has stayed with me on my nature walks. But that's not only what it's about. Is one life enough to truly walk the earth? What debts do we owe to mother earth? Perhaps, an entire life is lived in a birdsong. Isn't it amazing to know that the Earth constantly reminds us that each life form will come again and again? We may be already immortal. The poem revolves and rotates like planet Earth. A mesmerizing poem about unconditional karma and balances.
river mist rising cremation mound
Sonam Chhoki
Otata 9, September 2016
This monoku reminds me of our difficult times during the second Covid-19 wave in India in 2021. After surviving that phase, my views on life and happiness have gone through important positive changes.
redwood silence from a different century
Cherie Hunter Day
The Heron’s Nest XVII: 4 (December 2015); Awarded Second Runner-up Readers’ Choice for Poem of the Year 2015
I love her work and can't help but read this poem again and again. Thinking about everything that humanity has gone through, this “silence” has cosmic reverberations. Are we really trying to make this world a better place for our future generations? This poem offers a vast space for soul-searching.
dust storm the more I try to see the less I see
Minal Sarosh
whiptail journal
Issue 1: Kinetic (November 2021)
I live in a place where dust storms are a characteristic feature of summer, especially in April, May, and June. The philosophical dimensions of this one-line poem are such that each reading gives birth to a new realization via an old perception.
Though the examples may not strictly relate climate and culture, it will be interesting to try some poems that can express a country's culture through its climate and topography.
Thank you!
Stay blessed!
Richa
Source
1
Shirane, Haruo. Japan and the Culture of the Four Seasons Nature, Literature, and the Arts. Columbia University Press, 2012.