esejieng

You do not in haiku choose phrases. You let the surprising happenings and their configurations of the moment speak for themselves. Ikkoku didn't invent the phrase, “the wind shines,” rather – forgetting himself – he listened to nature's no-mind as it made not the slightest distinction between a shining sun an a blowing wind “co-arising,” in interpenetration. Our haiku moments are often the best possible antidote to pain and suffering. The one most inconsolable thing in life can be the irretrievable moment, lost through the blindness and self-absorption. Ikkoku passed away on September 22 – peacefully, in the sleep. He will be sorely missed by the many haiku poets, worldwide, to whom he become a beloved friend.

On sand 
the seagull feather 
tries to fly 
Radu Patrichi1

Both the joy and sadness man shares with nature, which Ion Codrescu tells us are a part of the spiritual communion in Romanian folklore, are clearly evident in Patrichi's haiku2. It offers a plethora of the qualities I look for in the genre – simplicity, “lifefulness”, an unsought depth. Here is a haiku poet at one with nature, willing to give nature its own voice. And you feel he's let the haiku moment choose him, rather than seeking it out himself. Above all, the haiku contains what Keats called the sails of poetry – imaginations, consistent with reality. Reality in haiku is what your eyes see and your ears hear. I am reminded of one of the “speculations” of Robert Spiess:3

“A Haiku is not meant to convince the intellect but to engender what may be termed an “affirmation” in the very ground of one's being.”

1. Albatros, Vol. I, No. 1, p. 41.

2. “ A Way To Haiku”, Round the Pond, Muntenia, '94, p. 157-158.

3. A Year's Speculations on Haiku, ‘95

* * *

man 
tired of killing  
rests

Mirko Vidović, transl. Sintija Culjat1

One of the finest minimal haiku I know of. For any lover of peace, these words are sure to arouse strong and bewildering feeling – of the kind few of us can deal with. The poem assaults the reader. Yet one can feel boundless admiration both for what it achieves and what it leaves unsaid.

1 Haiku Poetry, selected by Vladimir Devidé, 1996