Kuni san at SEE HAIKU HERE (see A-Z LINKS >>>) is currently introducing his followers to a form of haiku which involves writing a 50-word self-contained story as a kind of hook for the related haiku (and on SEE HAIKU HERE an illustration).
Impressed by the master, Poet-in-Residence was tempted to follow suit.-
Story
IN THE MORNINGS as I am about to begin to shave the strange man in the bathroom mirror takes a disposable razor in his left hand and places its cutting edge gently but firmly against my soaped neck. Some mornings when the mirror is foggy we wave to each other.
haiku
foggy morning
over the volcano
birds flying high
When I reflect on the above attempt I see that it owes something to at least four thoughts or ideas, and probably many more, which have mysteriously linked themselves together to produce a chain of thought with an end result. These are: a memory of Larkin's famous poem Mr Bleaney; Kuni san's wonderfully drawn Japanese images; a remark by George Szirtes concerning duty; a world full of cheap plastic products.
well done Gwilym
ReplyDeletejohn
Two thoughts spring instantly to mind:
ReplyDeleteWhy do you only wave to yourself on foggy mirror mornings?
Are you left handed or is this the mirror image?
Thank you John for a nice bit of zpeugian encouragement :)
ReplyDeleteHello Weaver, generally the 'I' in a poem, unless it says so, isn't the author of the poem it is the character in the scene (just like the 'I' in a novel isn't the author either). So it's not me. You will see from the haiku which links to story the clues to who it might be. Perhaps it's God. Perhaps it's a youth or a man in prison. I don't know. It's for you to decide. An haiku must be examined from all possible angles. There is more than one meaning here. It's very puzzling I know. But it's great fun to try, at least I think so. If you look at John McDonald's haiku about the moon and the swan you'll have to decide such things as is the swan real or is it a trcik of the light and so. Also have a look at SEE HAIKU HERE 2 posted on his blog today. It's lovely. Please enjoy but be like a detective looking at a fingerprint.
ReplyDeleteBest,
Gwilym
'You! hypocrite lecteur!—mon semblable,—mon frère!' I see the connection to Mr Bleary - a sort of doppelganger motif, warning about all manner of unpleasant things. I don't think I'd trust him with a straight razor at my throat. The translation of the introductory story to the landscape is fascinating, as you said to Weaver, for its clues about the narrator's psychology. I tried the link you suggested to her for See Haiku here's latest but can find nothing later than October 13.
ReplyDeleteDisregard the last bit of my previous. I somehow had myself into November. Thanks for the link and the introduction to Kuni San.
ReplyDeleteGW !
ReplyDeleteYou are under watch...
You are being constantly monitered
You are being followed
And you are at it again...
Come September and you ooze out so much energy....
Quite a wildlife...!... But the one about being lion ( Eggs ) reminded me Panjabis, who also believe in eat,drink and be merry...come what may !
But i liked this hiku thing particularly... as you put it.. it is quite an intereting study in creative process, though small
And also poem by R. K. Singh, so true about fallacies in one section of poets ( ? )
Before that, those pieces on Woodhull and Death in Venice...
Very special and of great interest
to me...that is why the whole world should love you, on my witness...
There is a saying in Sanskrit... " chraivaiti...charaivaiti...." meaning keep walking
But you already run...!
Thanks Mairi. You are right about Mr Bleaney of course. I can never think of tham poem without the strong man with a cardboard suitcase imagery coming through; the bare room, the single bed, Brylcreem stain on the pillow, the bare light bulb, the cheap curtains that didn't quite fit, the sound of the radio downstairs etc. The American writer O Henry is very good at this sort of snapshot of a life and American cops standing on corners in his lovely short stories. Mind you O H was more than a bit of a con man before he took up the quill (to pass the time behind bars I think it was).
ReplyDelete'strong' comes before 'cardboard' of course
ReplyDeletesatyapal, what can I say, your comments always leave me in 7th heaven ... ;>)
ReplyDeleteReally like both story and haiku. (I particularly like the idea of writing 50 word stories). There's a sort of cinematic scene change between the two.
ReplyDeletePS Have you come across http://katkigo.blogspot.com/ ?
Thanks for the link Dominic. Will certainly look asap. The place is crawling with workmen at the moment. I can't even think straight for all the banging and hammering. Also have a computer problem with my winsock which is getting on my nerves. Not to mention a 9-day cold and cough. Otherwise we're as happy as owls in a belfry.
ReplyDelete