swallow's wings

I floated this haiku all over the haiku place. People just did not get it. Typo, typo. Like, an experienced haikuist is gonna overlook that, right? lol It was there in plain sight. Not even open concealment, but, in effect, yes, apparently.

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A cautionary Pavlovian tale [click on image]. . . .

THREAD EXTRACT

haiku crossroads

‎[word sculpture haiku/concreteku — jp]

http://tinyurl.com/haiga-visku

on the wire

a swallow sharpens

it's wings

on the wire

a swallow sharpens

its wings

Once you get it, it's the only way to see it. The apostrophe is, of course, the swallow's beak. A challenge to our trained reflexes. Also, to our haiku vision - it's (sic) clarity of perceptive analysis? The original came out of a direct experience, just as was. (Shasai). What else does a swallow do with its wings? 'Preening' is for the breast feathers. Those wings, they need sharpened - which is what I watched the bird do, last summer.

jp

http://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=113183425396583

17 minutes ago

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Swallows sharpen their wings; a sparrow preens its wings and all its other feathers, too. Swallows preen most of their feathers, but, unlike the sparrow, they sharpen their wings - literally, enabling precision for flight. Exercise: Closely observe a swallow preparing its wings (and tail feathers - usually they perch on a [high] wire to do this).

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'Here in rainy England the return of the swallows from their winter vacation in Africa, is THE kigo (seasonal reference) of summer’s start in our folk imagination. Also a general kigo of summer – but the start is the key attribute.' — jp

[I'm happy either way, actually.]

FEEDBACK

29-09-11

• • • Gary Gabor how about:

    • on the wire

    • a swallow sharpens

    • its wing's

    • ?

    • John Potts Well, I do like the invitation into the ma-space at the end of L3, Gary. But, now the 'its' looks flat and non-being in the corner there. So, will probably stick with the final form, as-is. It's a one-off - to make a point about attention being distorted by expectation. Something like that. . . .

• • Vivian Moore MacKinnon a swallow is nothing but wings, so i like the original "it's"...

  • Zen Anecdotes

    • • • I like Gary's form too! Especially since the apostrophe is on the word wings, and there is no confusion at all about the possessive vs a contraction of it is. It's directs attention away from the point being made, simple because, as you already know, John, people tend to get into the grammatical issues rather than see the beak of the swallow. When one sees the apostrophe on wings, it makes one stop and think - hmmm wonder why he put it there! *V*

• • • John Potts This is one of the jobs of ART. To challenge sterotypical response to conditioned experience. Yes? Hence the mantra: "a point about attention being distorted by expectations". It was there all the time, the sculptural value of the words. And yet, unseen. As haiku people, we need, clearly, to have our lenses crystal clear. Or, is this too yoga for the movie?

    • jp

    • John Potts PS [re: comment one] I was going to do another riddle with 'hyphen', but, frankly, I'm bored with the subject. The correct word is, of course: 'apostrophe'. :O)

• • Zen Anecdotes Yes, that is one of the jobs of ART - to challenge stereotypical thinking, as you have shown! I think Gary was also trying to do that, and I also think there are several people here who "get it" \v/

• • • John Potts This is what enlightened groups are all about. More heads than one is better for intel. Especially if those heads are open-minded heads. And they ought to be if they are haiku heads (and all the rest of the bits n bobs).

    • Zen Anecdotes Some people think it and others feel it :) I trust my liking, or not liking, more than my thinking, Vivian. Lets agree to say "more heads and hearts are better than one head or one heart ....." then!

    • John Potts It's not about thinking, or feeling, even? I'ts about 'seeing'.

• • Zen Anecdotes ‎@John: How about and/and? Heads and hearts both have eyes ...so seeing is good too.

• • • John Potts What is 'seeing' (inverted tadpoles intentional)?

• • Zen Anecdotes An "ah_ha" experience....?

• • • John Potts Exactly that.

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The deeper potential of practicing haiku is that we can slowly but surely develop a 'seamless attention' which is more and more in tune with this 'ah ha moment' business'. In other words, haikua form of yogic meditaion which extends the range of our consciousnes beyond Pavlovian conditioning and out into the wilds of being!.We evolve! — jp

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SOME ODDS N ENDS - FOR THE RECORD. . . .

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This is one of the jobs of ART. To challenge sterotypical response to conditioned experience. Yes? Hence the mantra: "a point about attention being distorted by expectations". It was there all the time, the sculptural value of the words. And yet, unseen. As haiku people, we need, clearly, to have our lenses crystal clear. Or, is this too yoga for the movie? — jp

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HSA Thread 29-09-11

The answer is there for all to see. . . .

Before midnight I'll make my point. You see, this is an adventure. A slowing down of the headlong rush. . . . If you find it makes you dizzy - don't bother with the tread. We're all students of haiku, there are no masters. This is the truth. Think, Noh theatre. Enjoy the moments. Be happy. There is a point in this that is worth the making. If, at the midnight hour (Hallowe'eny!), you are disappointed by the resolution of this transparent riddle, you can have a good laugh at my expense! How's that. On the house.

NOTE This post at HSA wa deleted. No word of warning, nor reason given! One wonder's why? :O)

Subsequently, the solution was posted [linked to] at HSA. . . .

Original Post

THEN THIS POST WAS ALSO DELETED! Zeig heil, then. Obviously we have certain charletans on the run. But, from what? More news as I dig it out of the duplicity quagmire. . . .

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AHA Forums 30-09-11

NOTE This haiku was drawn from life. I stood and watched the bird sharpen its wings. The apostrophe was inserted to create a visual effect of a beak sorting flight feathers. 'It is wings'? No. But, why not have that as an aside to ponder and then reject or accept. It's a one-off concreteku, a word-sculpture and I quite like its weird effect. The haiku as haiku remains intact - primarily because of its simplicty. If this were published in a book it would be less of a puzzle. The assumption would be that it was intentional. Maybe this will happen along the wayless way. . . . Meanwhile, it has gotten much attention in the haiku world thus far and will continue to be used as a teaching aid and reminder to us all not to obfuscate our attention with Pavlovian reflex - if we can help it, that is. :O)

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THEN WE HAVE NICE PEOPLE WHO WANT TO LEARN. . . .

Did you read the comments below the haiga? They explain the idea. We can be asleep to what's in front of our noses! :0) For some reason, this is upsetting to many haiku people. I wonder why? Is it because it challenges their authenticity? Is it because western haiku is not the real deal? These are important questions, I feel. Glad you got the point, Gisele. Let's all keep or minds open and our wings sharp - in the true haiku spirit. Viva! ^_^

John

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This leads on to my concept of

COGNITIVE FILTERS

29-09-11

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