wet yellow leaves stuck to a rain-slick headstone, and i'm in a land not of tropical monsoons, but which knows autumn
Autumnal Reverie [Tanka]
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Category Archives: Poetry
In Praise of Diogenes the Cynic [Free Verse]
Owning only a cloak, staff, and satchel, he broke his bowl after seeing a child drink from cupped hands, feeling the dunce for being out-simplified by a mere child. When pirates, eager to sell him off, asked what skill he had, he said, "Governing men. "If you find someone interested in buying a master, I'm your man." He couldn't be driven away with a stick, much as the downright-dog, Antisthenes, tried. He was expert at adulterating the currency - literally and figuratively. When Alexander the Great offered him whatever he wished, A sunbathing Diogenes replied, "Stand out of my sunlight." I fear they don't make 'em like that anymore.
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Samsara & Nirvana [Tanka]
samsara is seeing a snake in an acacia pod; nirvana is realizing there never was a snake
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Puppy Nook [Haiku]
Echoed Mountains [Haiku]
rocky shoulders
peek out from behind green hills
in a ghostly haze
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Cloud Moat [Haiku]
Banyan Trees [Haiku]
Stonemason [Haiku]
tap-tap-tapping, the stonemason's chisel; timbre change...[hush]
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Manila Limerick
There was a grumpy man of Manila who didn't care the slightest scintilla. He'd lay on the horn - even on Sunday morn. When the sign failed, the Church hired a guerilla.
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BOOK REVIEW: Basho’s Haiku Journeys by Freeman Ng
Basho’s Haiku Journeys by Freeman NgMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
Amazon.in Page
Out: October 19, 2021
The first thing a prospective reader should be clear about is that these aren’t Basho’s haiku. Basho wrote travelogues in haibun (a spare form of prose typically matched with one or more haiku,) and so one might expect the poems to be from them. On a related note, while all of the poetry is haiku in form, not all of it is haiku in substance. That is to say, it’s all presented in a three-line 5 – 7 – 5 syllable format, but some of it reads like a prose description of events chopped up into 5 – 7 – 5 syllable bit-sized pieces. That’s not to say that there aren’t many poems that do have the feel of true haiku, presenting spare natural imagery juxtaposed but not explained, analyzed, or judgement-laden. It seemed like the further into the book I got, the more of the poems felt like proper haiku.
It is a children’s book, so I don’t think it’s a major concern that it focuses on the most rudimentary elements of haiku (i.e. syllable count and nature imagery) at the expense of subtler elements. The Zen nature of Basho’s haiku might be challenging for a young reader. I addition to the colorful and whimsical artwork, showing prominent places from Basho’s travels, there is a single page explanation of haiku to help get kids writing their own.
If you’re looking for a book to get a child interested in nature, haiku, or travel, you should give this one a look.
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