The first poem I can remember writing was in January 1945 in Finschaffen, New Guinea. It was rather short:
Oh fire hydrant
in red attire
patiently waiting for a fire-
ignore the little dog
It was not until the mid-’60s that I discovered and studied Haiku, that intriguing and ancient Japanese verse form usually expressed in 17 syllables in three lines of five, seven and five syllables each and usually referencing nature and a season of the year. My first attempt is still my favorite:
Sudden summer rain
drumming on the lily pads
hiding drowsy koi
A philosophical question quickly arose: is Haiku Haiku if written in English and not in Japanese? Unable to adequately assess the profundities of this question, I wrote the following Renga (a longer Haiku-like verse form) and got on with the rest of my life:
Is Haiku Haiku
if written in English and
not in Japanese
Is the imagery
properly esoteric
and Oriental
with that turn of phrase
beguilingly stylized
and evocative
attuned to nature’s
annual change of seasons
and the red bird’s song
The poet’s sure eye
focused on a grain of sand
to sense the cosmos
searching in oneself
for the hidden connections
to truth and beauty
Is Haiku Haiku
if written in English and
not in Japanese?
You may have noticed that I did not mention learning the Japanese language. Do not hold your breath, I cannot even learn conversational French or Spanish. I have tried to learn travelers’ phrases, but everything falls apart when there is a response to those phrases, responses that I do not understand. In self-defense I have learned an adequate Gallic shrug.
The intense strain of trying to think in another language becomes almost embarrassing at times. We were in smoggy Guadalajara to see the Orozco murals and spent some time in the orphanage craning our necks to see the magnificent “Man of Fire” mural on the high ceiling. My neck got rather tired so I sat near the entrance to rest when two very young American tourists walked in looking somewhat lost and approached me, asking if I spoke English. Without hesitation I responded, “SÃ.” This intense concentration on the rudiments of another language is not too healthy for one’s ego when all about you are people who had to learn English in order to earn a living and can speak it with apparent ease.
Back to Haiku. Would you believe that I have been unable to find a Haiku magazine or nonprofit Haiku club anywhere? I even wrote to the New York Times Book Review asking for assistance and received a snotty form-letter response telling me they do not accept unsolicited materials. Perhaps if my letter had not been written in Renga they would have been more polite. Do you suppose they also have an unlisted phone number as well as no sense of humor?