dehydrated frog

in the car park,a dehydrated frog— mid - leapMy daughter and I were off out somewhere and upon opening the car door a frog jumped in. 15 minutes later we had not found the frog and so needs must we sped off to not miss our gig. A subsequent search on our return proved fruitless. "Wait for the smell," one thought to one's elf. It was now two weeks later. I pulled the car into the same car parking area, about where this frog incident had occurred, and proceeded to get out. It was another hot summer's day, we were having a heat wave; this was a few years back before England became a monsoon habitat. Doesn't time and climate change fly? Anyway, glancing down to place my descending left shoe on the shimmering concrete and it was like, lo and behold! One squashed frog, completely dried out (in beige), flattened in mid - leap...forever. Still got it's mummified 2-D remains tucked away somewhere as a diary memento/bookmark (laminated) and cautionary reminder to look before we leap. Presumably the prudent frog had jumped straight back out of the car again fairly sharpish and hidden its little green self behind the offside rear wheel in the safety of shadows until the zone was deemed cool again for little green frogs. God bless it.

LITERARY HAIKU

Exploration of Options

No, not talking about karma and synchronicity. (That can be read between the lines.)

This note is about haiku categorical designation. (Part of a typology schema for an authentic haiku universe - a work in progress.)

Exhibit A [haiku above] is what we can term a LITERARY HAIKU . . .

lit·er·ar·y (lt-rr)

adj.

1. Of, relating to, or dealing with literature: literary criticism.

2. Of or relating to writers or the profession of literature: literary circles.

3. Versed in or fond of literature or learning.

4.

a. Appropriate to literature rather than everyday speech or writing.

b. Bookish; pedantic.

[Latin litterrius, of reading and writing, from littera, ltera, letter; see letter.]

liter·ari·ly (-râr-l) adv.

liter·ari·ness n.

Free Dictionary

There are several source variants (origination methods -- usually from direct experience of a complete scenario) of this classification.

The one used in this example is drawn directly from the memory of a memorable incident. A vignette of irony and pathos -- almost a parable.

As always, we ponder source stimulus and respond with a haiku. Other possibilities of literary haiku (or, studio haiku, especially when working from field notes/sketches) can be deduced from the mantra: Memories, dreams, reflections (Jung). To which we add: Forward-planning (Potts).

We mentioned memory. However, one may easily have a strong recall of a dream. We may even be aware enough in our dream to haiku on the spot. Especially so the latter if visualisation (meditation) is our thing. Path working and suchlike, for any magicians or wiccan types in the room. Reflections are contemplations upon thoughts and feelings, just as we would contemplate the moment out and about in the world when we haiku; perhaps on a solitary or group ginko (haiku walk), perhaps at random as we go about our daily business.

Forward planning is the last on our list of options (there may well be more for all we know). Apart from the obvious of noting future events to be actioned, forward planning in the haiku office or studio is quite a contrived affair. What we are doing is selecting disparate items from our personal database, cultural database and real world as they now happen (like typical haiku realisation), or as they then happened (in memory, dreams and/or reflections). In other words; we make a haiku up to suit our audience and our intent thereof.

Is all this bona fide for haiku?

Well, it depends how you like to haiku. Or your level of skill and understanding of haiku. Even a mature haiku student of many years may choose any of the techniques of the office/studio to compose their literary haiku.

The baseline for haiku is regarded as being derived from haiku moments. We have a eureka aha! Mostly out of time and self interest, ideally. Some natural (including human ritual and technology) situation is revelatory and we experience a small enlightenment (samadhi, realisation). A haiku comes to mind. We maybe need to tweak the text of our haiku so that the delivery of the original experience is not interrupted by poetic contrivance, explanation (rather than allusion) and various redundant grammatical noises and textual/formal obfuscations.

"Go to the pine if you want to learn about the pine, or the bamboo if you want to learn about the bamboo. And in doing so, you must leave your subjective preoccupation with yourself. Your poetry issues of its own accord when you and the object have become one – when you have plunged deep enough into the object to see something like a hidden glimmering there. However well-phrased your poetry may be, if the object and yourself are separate – then your poetry is not true poetry but a semblance of the real thing." - Matsuo Basho

The foundation for haiku moments is usually regarded as being rooted in the material world with a seasonal address (or the more complex cultural keyword/phrase/ambiance, which serves as a cognitive search engine trigger of kigo) to mark environmental changes in calendrical space/time and greatly enlarge our haiku form's minimalist footprint experientially . Any abstraction (literary haikuing, as defined here) is secondary. Certainly this natural concrete realism is the recommended starting line for haiku beginners (tadpoles).

Of course we are more than concrete realism.

We are enfolded in memories, dreams, reflections and forward plannings.

However, to have a benchmark for haiku operations it is clearly useful to be outside of time and space and identity. People nickname this Zen, more often that not. But this mystic commonplace is simply a general enhanced clarity of sensate/cognitive awareness that is accessible to all; regardless of belief, non-belief, or any particular sectarian affiliation or habit.

Quite specifically, having a brief haiku trip is simply child's play. Whether this be at the desk or out on a field trip. We need to know what we are doing though, in the bigger picture. Unlike our little green frog.

—

I was talking to a student and they asked what my opinion was about the veritable tsunami of internet haiku. I was efficiently given the following, somewhat astonishing, figures:

Google Search: About 8,840,000 results (0.11 seconds)

The first thing that came to mind was that haiku brevity is the logical poetry wing of email brevity. It all seems so easy. Three lines (tercet) and off you go. Of course, haiku is way beyond that simplistic initial reaction. Sentences and quips snipped in three are not haiku. But, it is a start.

The second notion was that many errors in the transmission of haiku from its original blossoming in old Japan were grown to Godzilla size. One of the problems being the infamous 5-7-5 syllable fixation (Nippon has very short sound bites —onji— but not the much weightier syllables as such). Schools around the world have found this rigid and somewhat hefty formal haiku structure useful for teaching purposes, though. Fortunately, many educators are becoming increasingly aware of the true depth of haiku and its presentational form. Hopefully, as time goes by, things may improve regarding authentic haiku understanding.

R E M I N D E R

Brief free form is the global haiku way --- line two usually being longest of the three haiku lines.

One and two lines are used by some, but these do tend to be less useful for the average reader.

Thirdly I answered the question by fielding the tale of a frog that jumped into a car. The parable being that what was left of the frog two weeks later connoted significantly with current global haiku outpourings as contrasted with Basho's famous frog song. We both laughed.

Point made .

old pond

a frog jumps in

the sound of water

Basho

rear wheel

a frog jumps under

the sound of

jp

D E J A V U

An Excerpt from: Dandelion Through the Crack

hai ide te

mishin ni hikareshi

kawazu kana

John Shinji Sato

it crawled out

then crushed by a car

a frog

Trudy Sato, trans.

serendipity via → here

artist's impression of the basic haiku engine (not to scale)

also see

and

and

and

THE FROG SONG

source: Japan National Tourist Organisation

jp 18-05-12

more items

NOTE

Obviously (?) a honkadori a-foot

This entire site is a living document and as such will be developing - be sure to return regularly to the pages. Not just to see the changes, but also to review the material in the light of your accelerating trajectory.

♪

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