Assignment One: Haiku #2

Haiku #2: by Tish Davis

Source: http://www.hsa-haiku.org/hendersonawards/henderson.htm

autumn
an empty booster seat
in the barber's window

I like how this haiku began by stating the season in which this particular image occurred; I think that it automatically establishes a kind of melancholy tone for the rest of the poem. By knowing the season, the reader interprets the image of an empty booster seat in a barber's window in a particular way. Because autumn is associated with the ending of summer, colder weather, the beginning of school, and a heavier sense of responsibility, the word "empty" in the second line implies a sort of sadness to me; it makes me wonder why the booster seat is empty, and though I have no tangible ideas of where the child went that used to occupy the seat, my mind does not wander toward light and happy things. However, if you replace the word "autumn" with the word "summer," the reader would interpret the scene differently; for example, one could assume that the booster seat is empty because the child is outside playing in the nice weather, which is a happy back story that creates a lighter feeling to the haiku as a whole. The more haikus that I read, the more I realize that I like to fill in the blanks and invent the details that the poets leave out, which is something I noticed that other students in class do as well. By claiming a very specific sense of time and place, Davis guides readers to fill in the blanks in a particular way.

Assignment One: Haiku #1

Haiku #1: by Tateo Fukutomi

Source: http://simplyhaiku.com/SHv3n3/haiku/tateo_fukutomi_haiku.html

natsu no hama
tako kunya kunya to
hadashi no ko

Translation:

summer seashore—
an octopus writhing,
a barefooted child

In class, we discussed how a haiku represents a sort of flash of inspiration. This haiku, written by Tateo Fukutomi, deals with juxtaposition of two images that represent two very different things-- a writhing, slowly dying octopus out of its element on the shore (representing death and suffering) and a barefooted child walking innocently along the beach, probably excited by the crashing waves (representing innocence and the vitality of life). In my experience, this kind of stark juxtaposition that Fukutomi writes about here is the source of deep inspiration, and I particularly enjoyed this haiku because it engages with the very act of being hit with a flash of inspiration by the natural juxtapositions and ironies that we encounter in life. I also think that the haiku has a very specific emotional resonance because of its summer beach setting and the child that it describes; I think that a lot of people have their own memories of walking along the beach as a child and seeing foreign and grotesque creatures wash ashore and being somewhat frightened and in awe simultaneously....but that could also just be me! This poem reminded me of the first time I ever saw the underside of a horseshoe crab on the beach; it was scary and fascinating and I wanted to reach out and touch it so badly but I couldn't muster up the courage, so I eventually just walked away, turning back to look at it over my shoulder a couple times. I like that eight words could make me recall such a vivid and somewhat strange memory of my own.