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I love that haiku can be used to make fun of both life and haiku itself. In spite of its history of deep meaning and sparse wording, haiku can also be frivolous and a little bit silly.
Haiku can also be perfectly timed and eerily auspicious as well. We spent the third week of June in Germany celebrating the 90th birthday of my German "mother." (I was a Lion's Club exchange student in high school. The six weeks I spent with Elisabeth's family the summer she turned 50 mark a watershed moment in my growing up years.)
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| I want to be 90 like THAT! |
This was the Daily Issa in my email inbox on Elisabeth's birthday:
old pine
starting a new year...
how many spring mists?
1812
.老松や改て又幾かすみ
oi matsu ya aratamete mata iku kasumi
Tricia has today's Poetry Friday roundup at The Miss Rumphius Effect.
So much joy in that photo!
ReplyDeleteHaiku really shows the power of a few well-chosen words! Love the comic strip, the Issa and that wonderful photo!
ReplyDeleteAwwwwwwww.....love this that you are connected to Elizabeth still. We are on a similar haiku wavelength this week.
ReplyDeleteI never had the joy of an exchange, but we hosted a few students in a summer several times, loved that. That Issa haiku made it special, didn't it? And I love the comic, those marshmallows!
ReplyDeleteThat must have been a wonderful experience! I had my "watershed moment" when I was much older...and traveled to China with an children's literature/educational delegation in 1994.
ReplyDeleteNINETY!? Good grief, she makes it look effortless. And yet: she has lived through war and disaster and the very dregs of human nature.
ReplyDeleteI'm betting the laughter is what made the difference.
Pretty sure you're right about the laughter.
DeleteThe story of her family's escape from Poland/Silesia when she was a young teen is amazing. Heartbreaking. Inspiring.
Heck, I want to be 60 like that! I was thinking of haiku for healing last week. It seems like we need it now more than ever. Thank you for sharing, Mary Lee.
ReplyDeleteHow wonderful you got to be together again! She looks amazing. Thank you for the view on haikus. One of my favorite forms. I agree with Catherine on a need for healing.
ReplyDeleteWhat fun to see a friend who made such a difference in your life forty summers ago. Haiku for healing, haiku for frivolity, haiku for light times - it's an all-purpose poetry form. Yay for haiku. I love the comic!
ReplyDeleteHow exciting to visit with your host mom after all this time. I"m so happy you went.
ReplyDeleteThat picture says it all about knowing how to live - what a smile. And the perfect haiku, too. What a wonderful reunion!
ReplyDeleteWhat a beautiful and joyful 90! I love your tribute haiku to her.
ReplyDeleteI feel like I got two posts for the price of one today. I love the comic! Am really thinking about how I will incorporate more visuals and graphics this year. And then that haiku- what incredible timing. And like several others, I can't believe your host mom is 90! She looks like she is about 70!!! Maybe you should tell her story in April this year.
ReplyDeleteHa--the Cul de Sac strip is priceless! Sounds like you had a wonderful trip, and so nice to reconnect with important folks from your past (and yes to looking 90 like that!)
ReplyDeleteThe comic strip made me laugh out loud. What a lovely photo, and I agree with you on the timing of the haiku. Priceless!
ReplyDeleteIs it that the fewer words you use, the wider the application of your precisely described image? Thank you for this post full of all the different feels, and I look forward to finding out more about your travels!
ReplyDeleteWhat a perfect haiku to celebrate and reunite on your visit to Germany. I love it!
ReplyDeleteYour photo is beaming with life and energy! Love the Cul De Sac haiku comic–hope you'll fill us in on your trip, thanks!
ReplyDeleteWhat a lovely column. I assume you subscribe to David Gerard's "Daily Issa?" David's a former president of the Haiku Society of America, which turns 50 years old this year. Thanks to HSA and haiku poets I've interacted with on FB, I've learned so much about this unique poetic form. This knowledge has helped me revive my mom Sydell Rosenberg's haiku and senryu legacy -- she was a charter member of HSA and I published her kids' haiku collection this year. Thanks for an enjoyable read!
ReplyDeleteI love this post! <3
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