The other day, I came across a wonderful haiku by Kyōtai (1732-1792):
Fallen leaves fall on each other -- rain beats on the rain
The poem contains only two elements (rain and leaves falling), yet through simple repetition evokes both the scene and the mood, as well as the enduring nature of the condition.
Though not directly mentioned, I can hear the rain and experience the gray light. (I think the haiku speaks most powerfully to those who have sat through rainy autumn spells in regions where the seasons are more pronounced.)
Kyōtai sought to "elevate haiku from the vulgarity of his day and return to the excellence of Bashō." Influenced also by Buson, he emphasized imagery. *
In this haiku, rain and leaf-falling are images produced by elements that are both events and images. One cannot separate the thing from the doing-of-the-thing, the subject from the verb, the rain from the raining, nor the leaves from the leaf-falling.
Alan Watts often pointed out that in English we say "it is raining" but there is no “it” that is “doing” the rain. Rain is raining.
How beautifully this haiku boils down to two simple elements, which are then extended through simple repetition: leaf-falling leaf-falling, rain rain.
I ultimately find that instructive: can I boil my haiku down to its basic elements and still have a sense of what the haiku is? Can I combine object and event to create image, scene, and mood all at once?
This is the aspect of haiku I find most challenging: keeping it simple. How spare can I make my haiku, how far can I boil it down, and still see it working? Can I get to leaf-falling leaf-falling, rain rain?
I’m going to try.
* Biographical information and the above translation both sourced from Haiku: An Anthology of Japanese Poetry, listed below in my Recommended Reading section. And it would be really cool if Kyōtai was pronounced "coyote".
NOTE: I’m still in Brazil. Even though I am writing and posting the postcards on Instagram and haikuandy.com as per usual, the actual mailing will be delayed.
haiku 20231002» Benicia, CA USA
birds singing
outside my window
the rain must've stopped
haiku 20231003 » Santa Barbara, CA USA
downtown church
a worshipper bent low
over his phone
haiku 20231004 » Sparks, NV USA
vila helio
ivy sinew conquering
old green tile
haiku 20231005 » Santa Barbara, CA USA
yellow blossoms
gild the city square
toddlers dance and squeal
haiku 20231006 » Centennial, CO USA
downtown cathedral
stained glass saints louvered
to let in salvation
haiku 20231007 » El Cerrito, CA USA
bus stop bench
blessed with yellow blossoms
a man swipes them clear
haiku 20231008 » Las Vegas, NV USA
thunder upon thunder
the dog tries to hide
under himself
That’s all seven! See you next week! And remember…
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Recommended Reading
I heartily recommend all the books below. I get no commission, no nothing if you buy through my links. (Amazon Associates gave me the boot because I didn’t move enough merch. Oh well.)
Haiku: An Anthology of Japanese Poems, Stephen Addiss/Fumiko Y. Yamamoto/Akira Y. Yamamoto
With the exception of The Haiku Anthology (see below), this was the first haiku anthology I bought when I first started sending out haiku cards. I stumbled across this small, beautiful book, while making my requisite writer’s pilgrimage to Shakespeare’s Books in Paris (ooh la la). The richness and scope between the covers in this little book is simply amazing, featuring over 102 poets, many more if you include anonymous authors. It’s my go-to when packing for a trip. Buy it here.
The Haiku Anthology (Third Edition), Edited by Cor van den Heuvel
Want to know what modern English-language haiku really looks like? What it is capable of? Here is your answer, and a must for every haiku poet’s bookshelf. When I first started writing haiku, this volume served me very well. Many of the haiku within have remained with me throughout the years, and I have been privileged to now count some of the contributors as colleagues and friends. Buy it here.
Three Simple Lines: A Writer’s Pilgrimage into the Heart and Homeland of Haiku, Natalie Goldberg
Many writers will immediately recognize Goldberg from her forever bestselling Writing Down the Bones. As it happens, she has been writing haiku for her entire adult life, and has much to teach us. In Three Simple Lines, she intertwines memoir, history, and travelogue in a magnificent way as she journeys through Japan, chasing down the ghosts of Bashō and Buson, among others. She also draws much needed attention to women haiku poets, who were too often overshadowed by their male contemporaries. Buy it here.
Mountain Tasting - Haiku and Journals of Santoka … (tr. John Stevens)
I found Santoka challenging at first. Much of his haiku feels incomplete to me or dashed off. But he grew on me. Soon I felt like a companion on his journey, bouncing from inn to inn, begging for alms by day, pounding sake by night. Buy it here.
The Essential Haiku - Versions of Bashō, Buson, & Issa
Essential is right! Edited by Robert Hass, a great poet in his own right. Hass includes great essays on the history and evolution, as well as other writings by the poets themselves. A true master class in haiku! Buy it here.
Narrow Road to the Interior and Other Writings, Matsuo Bashō (tr. Sam Hamill)
Haiku poets have a tradition of wandering the countryside, and Bashō set the example! Buy it here.
Selected Poems, Masaoka Shiki (tr. Burton Watson)
I wrote a whole post about Shiki. Haiku might not exist today without his influence and renewal of the form. Buy it here.
Issa's Best: A Translator's Selection of Master Haiku, Issa Kobayashi (tr. David G. Lanoue)
Issa is probably the most beloved of the classic poets. His humility and joy in the face of unbearable loss and poverty endear him to haiku lovers everywhere. Lanoue seems to have made translating Issa his life’s mission, and I love his versions. Buy it here.