The Essential Haiku

I recently decided to read The Essential Haiku: Versions of Basho, Buson, and Issa which is edited by Robert Hass. This book has been on my shelf for many years -- I wish I had read it that long ago because reading it has shown me what good haiku is!

Japanese haiku requires three elements:
1. two disparate ideas or things
2. words or punctuation or spacing that indicates the connection between the two
3. a  kigo- a word that indicates the season

Notice there is nothing that says humans cannot be present in haiku -- humans are, after all, a part of nature and they are present in some of my favorite haiku.

Also notice I didn't say anything about 5-7-5! That's because the English syllable is not the same as the Japanese on -- which is closer to being a phoneme than a syllable, but even that comparison is not exact. A typical Japanese haiku, when translated to English, actually averages closer to 12 English syllables. I am glad that Hass, in editing the book, did not insist on translation into 5-7-5. I have seen translations of that sort that were horribly strained, with the essence of the haiku lost.

So far I have read through the sections on Basho and Buson. Basho has been greatly honored in Japan as the originator of haiku as a high art form. Haiku had been in existence before Basho's time, but as part of a party game in which a poem would be started with a hokku, a verse of 17 on. Guests would write additional short verses that would extend the hokku into a longer poem. Basho made the hokku an independent poem, which was eventually renamed haiku.

As I have been reading, I have been turning corners down to mark my favorites. I decided this is a book I will keep, and doing so will make it more valuable to me. Oh, the horror of damaging a book! I had to overcome the guilt of doing so, but am glad I finally did so after so many years of trying to keep all my books in pristine condition. (Now, my autographed first edition Sword of Shannara and my hardcover, single-volume Lord of the Rings are another matter!)

A few favorites by Basho:

     The beginning of art --
a rice-planting song
     in the backcountry.
 
     His Holiness the Abbot
is shitting
     in the withered fields.

     A field of cotton --
as if the moon
     had flowered.

And one labeled as Basho's death poem:

     Sick on a journey,
my dreams wander
     the withered fields.

Buson wrote many haiku that I felt a response to. Some I found to be humorous, while upon reading others others I felt a sense of awareness awakened: the "aha" moment the best haiku inspire.

     Chrysanthemum growers --
you are the slaves
     of chrysanthemums!

     Listening to the plovers
while you, who loaned me this room,
     are sleeping.

     The old man
cutting barley --
     bent like a sickle

(Another English rule broken in the following haiku -- the season is mentioned by name.) 

     The end of spring --
 the poet is brooding
     about editors.

On his deathbed, Buson wrote:

     Winter warbler --
long ago in Wang Wei's
     hedge also.
                                 (Wang Wei was a poet who lived more than a century before Buson.)

And another he titled Early Spring:

     In the white plum blossoms
night to next day
     just turning.

Buson once told a student to "Use the commonplace to escape the commonplace."
That is truly what haiku does for me.

Working on the Weight and Writing about the Wiggler

Here I am, seriously starting on a weight-loss plan. Oh, I've done Slim-fast before, and gotten the weight down, but it went back on and then some. So now I am trying something different: a weight loss plan that actually includes a support system and diet plan.
I have been working out at Curves off and on for some years now, and always enjoyed the comaraderi of working out with women. Curves is non-threatening in a way only a woman who feels uneasy in the presence of overly-muscled men can understand. Last week I signed up for the Curves Complete plan, which incorporates Weight-Watchers type meal planning with the exercise. Today I start week one, starting with a breakfast of peanut-butter toast and two egg whites. I can live with that. I am really looking forward to the days I get the double chocolate breakfast shake, which adds a bit of sugar free chocolate pudding to the Curves chocolate shake powder.
In addition to the workouts and meal planning, I have access to an online community of other women on the plan as well. I was surprised and pleased to learn the access to meal planning etc. will continue even after I discontinue the plan (I signed on for 6 months) and continue on my own. I'll have a weekly weigh-in and one-on-one with my coach, and a monthly measure. Stay tuned for results!

Somebody told me that a dog's life begins the day it is adopted. If that is so, Sophie is two months old today. In reality, we think she is about ten months to a year. We had a rocky start... the parvo she had when dumped at the shelter left her with what I would call doggie IBS, and we had to put her on a gentle food for awhile. Then after three weeks she began limping. A check with the vet revealed the webbing on all four paws was badly infected. The supposition is that she got into some cleaning solution while still in the shelter we adopted her from and got dermatitus, which the wet weather we were having at the time didn't help. 24 days of antibiotics and twice-daily cleaning with anti-fugal antibiotic wipes and hopefully we are now good.
Training is going well. We don't know what kind of training Sophie had before we adopted her, but we do know it was overly harsh. When we first tried to throw sticks for her to chase, she cowered away from us as soon as we picked up the stick. After a few weeks, that behavior happily disappeared. Now Sophie walks fairly well on the leash for me, once we get past the first half block or so, anyway. She sits, lies down, and knows what "off" means, although she doesn't always do it immediately. Sophie also goes to her kennel on command, but she does expect pay-off once she gets there! She likes to ride in the car, and I let her sit in front but will feel easier about it once her seat-belt harness arrives. Sophie and I have been going to obedience class at the Humane Society. We have learned a lot there, but the best part is being around other doggies and humans. It would be nice if our town had a dog park, but not yet.

Two months and one day: Sophie has decided to start acting like a puppy, snatching stuffed bunnies off the shelves. She knows anything on shelf or table is a NoNo. Time to put those bunnies away!

Getting Started 

Well, here I am starting my first blog. I don't expect this blog to be overly exciting, earthshaking, revealing, or poetic. I'll save that for writing I hope to publish. My plan for this blog is for it to be an addendum to my facebook page. If I post a status or comment on facebook and you want to hear more about it, look here. There might be more. Or there might not. Right now I am experimenting, so you might be seeing some fequent changes in font and format as this blog takes shape. Just now, it is time to release my pup from her kennel, so more later.