Winter haikus
Some winter haikus by Kobayashi Issa:
the snow is melting
and the village is flooded
with childrenwriting shit about new snow
for the rich
is not arthere,
I’m here—
the snow falling
At a recent YBE event, I learned of an interesting approach to writing haikus—collaboratively. Haikus usually consist of a setting (traditionally seasonal, or kigo), or place, and an observation. The traditional Japanese version follows a strict 5-7-5 syllable format, though modern English haiku relaxes that a bit. Here's a famous haiku by Matsuo Basho:
old pond—
a frog jumps in
the sound of water
furuike ya
kawazu tobikomu
mizu no oto
And here's one of the first haikus in English, by Ezra Pound:
In a Station of the Metro
The apparition of these faces in the crowd
Petals on a wet, black bough
There are many ways that one can go about writing haikus collaboratively. You could improvise in a call-and-response kind of manner, or you can independently brainstorm settings and observations, and then mix and match them together afterwards.
Although not strictly a Buddhist art, the nature of haiku lends itself very naturally to Buddhist practice. Its short form means there is no time for prefacing or for the self. Instead, it requires concentration, stillness, and observation. Its fragment-and-response form invites us to find connections, often unexpected and delightful, in the world. In its directness and sometimes ambiguity haiku can subvert our habitual ways of seeing, naming, and forming ideas, so that we may see new interconnections in the world. I think writing haikus collaboratively, with that element of improv, can really bring out the serendipity of seeing and writing.
Below are some haikus that friends and I came up with as a group over a winter lakeside lunch. It turned out that some of us were really good at setting the scene, and others really good at picking out choice details.
Glistening brown heads
of ducks chasing bread crumbs
A fish darts through
Midday sun
sizzling on my skin
Time to go inside
Dainty prints in snow
I run free
amongst the pack
Families chattering
Scraped knees
looking for mom
Late November
Already Christmas decor
Icicles come later
Dusted lightly in white
Beginnings
and ends
Old dog’s social club
Frolic and romp with vigor
Only we know best
full moon skinny dipping
I’ll wait until
the new moon
No more air bnb sign next door
Splay gathers courage
Peanut
Winter nights staying up late
Creaking floorboards overhead
The smell of breakfast
Standing over the tamale pot
Spread fold squeeze tuck steam for one hour
Sleepy eyes full hearts
Empty mailbox
Arms up frowns down
Should have never happened
Beastly alienation
Whale dolphin dragon goat
wolf monkey raven
Frozen steps
Clang clang clang seeking solutions
Finding the one best stick
A block of ice
Sprinting up the mountain only to
stutter down the hill
Is everybody done?
We’re sending you home with tamales
I need to take a nap