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IX. Haiku in the Big City -- Gary Gach (ggach@path.net)
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the following selection -on and of "senryu" - is
excerpted from a forthcoming, illustrated book
ADVENTURES IN HAIKULAND for younger readers of all
ages. - for DOGWOOD BLOSSOM subscribers' advance
read. // the actual senryu are by a number of
authors, and acknowledgments will occur in the actual
book. // (note: if you are one of the authors and
you haven't received a Release Form, please contact
me immediately; thanks! ) // questions, comments
welcomed.
gary (gar2) (ggach@path.net)
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FIND HAIKU IN THE BIG CITY
The voice of nature is everywhere. In the city you
have only to listen a little harder sometimes.
Instead of wolves howling, or waterfalls, there's car-
roar, or the sound of a refrigerator ... part of the
life of this place in which we are living.
The red sun
reflected in the square
of the tv.
Neons flash red & green.
April rains on still street. Man
Nods. Red lights blink, blink.
After April rain
-in puddles of oil
city rainbows
The whole block flooded.
Men hauling pumps & hoses;
children, plastic boats.
A great freight truck
lit up like a town
through the dark stony desert.
Sure as there's nature in the city, human nature
leaves traces and cuts tracks in nature. So haiku
can express not only nature, but human nature too.
[The name for this kind of haiku is "senryu" (say
sen-roo).
Putting human nature in e foreground and nature in the
background, everyone can see something of universal
human nature in themselves or the world around.
What kind of person
would put a price
on orchids ...
???
Here too anything can happen - and usually does.
Old men drive
slowly backwards
in Safeway parking lots
Some haiku are like watercolors - senryu can be more
like snapshots, like this:
Second before
the next sneeze, waiting ...
what a funny face !
A soap opera :
passions wrenching the heart
of a woman viewer.
As well as linking up things to things, they can link
up other people. Person-to- person.
The dentist,
finding his work difficult,
opens his mouth, too~
Haiku can be seen in forests, on mountains, near
rivers ... or from diners, lobbies, bus-windows. The
street, the garage, around the house, or around town.
Wherever you find them.
His serious face looks
around, looking for
something he can't see
dog paws backseat floor
to dig an escape tunnel,
driven to the vet
My hands are tools
that build the world
but I am just a speck
faces on the bus,
in hardcovers & paperbacks
The housepainters
using such short brushes
to make the job last.
Not saying a word,
the house is the wife's.
"What's this for?"
says the carpenter
as he saws it off.
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