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I married Isis on the fifth day of May
But I could not hold on to her very long
So I cut off my hair and I . . .
/
rode straight away
for the wild unknown country
where I could not go wrong
Bob Dylan
Doing haiku correctly may not make you want to dance; it will, however, bring a breath of fresh air into the urban soul's longing for that wild, unknown country where you cannot go wrong. . . .
This wild unknown country is, of course, the nitty gritty. The fast track to being involved in literature and not being accountable. Do haiku! Furthermore, haiku is what we say it is and therefore we are haiku poets (not people who do haiku - but, haijins, no less).
Then, we have the problem of money and fame. If I'm an editor of a haiku journal (for example) there are two related tasks to juggle. One is money the other is customers. Somewhat related. Each customer who gets a 'haiku' published in my journal is a potential future consumer of any journal's spin-off products which showcase that customer's offering. This is what can grossly lower the standards. Filling up the journal's quota of posts, investing in people for future vanity publishing sales, and not losing readers credibility whilst your at it. A merry dance. And, as evidenced, spamming is rife.
The essay by Randy Brooks is well worth the reading. His analytical schema is fine and it opens up the reader to a wider literary debate. But, it by no means goes far enough. By a long chalk.
Haiku is at least two things. The thing in and of itself (haiku form) and how that in and of itself haiku template is applied (sampling criteria).
Leaving the formal aspects of haiku to one side. How do we apply haiku perception and to what? Charles Tart always struck me as having a good idea about this question, although addressing a much larger issue:
"Thus my proposal in Science back in the 70s to create state-specific sciences
if we want to understand the whole spectrum of consciousness."
— Tart
Charles' notion is to claim all levels of consciousness as worthy of scientific (et al) investigation and technological response.
This could be applied to haiku, too. But, first we'd need to know what a haiku is - its basic mechanism. Then, we can apply our established haiku core techniques to a cosmological schema which stretches all the way from here to now. From the gross to the finest levels we can aspire to - possibly way beyond the vainglorious self of 'memories, dreams and reflections' (which the gendai initiative is tinkering with). At which point we're back where Basho ended and Bob Dylan started? Only now we can do nature wherever we find nature. . . .
"The haiku engine uses poetics, but is not poetry (although some spin it that way - Imagistism). The haiku engine uses prosaics, but is not prose (although some spin it that way - Epigramism). Ipso facto, the haiku engine lives in the middle, neither this nor that. Is the haiku engine, then, the same as the magic spell engine and, if so, then both, therefore, are utilising a more fundamental engine? (Only respond to this if your IQ is your own.)" - The Unknown Haijin
Note - another aspect of 'wild unknown country' (the 'wayless way'): Issa is said to have sought the wilderness in his soul to reach the wilds outback his hut door. But, they were all at it. Radical Taoist ideas were being explored to break out of the artificial court style of renga, also its comic and populist reflection, haikai no renga. [search]. They were all under the thrall of this, in particular: Zhuangzi.
Isis by Bob Dylan, lyrics Isis
Gendai http://gendaihaiku.com/
Listen to Isis . . .
jp 30-08-11
NOTE
Been chatty with Bob since 201O (just before the catharis). He's quite a nice guy, when you get to know him. . . .
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