#28’s theme is “Fall Migration” and features the work of Allan Burns, Martin Lucas and Carole MacRury.
this paper crane . . .
a death poem released
on the wind
— MacRury
greener than autumn light
on wind-bent reeds
the teal’s wing
— Lucas
mountain glade
dusky grouse fade
into wilderness
— Burns
Some questions from Allan on this week’s installment:
• How do readers unfamiliar with bird names respond to these poems?
• Do you feel alienated from the haiku?
• Are the names evocative even if no precise image comes to mind?
• Do the poems get you to look up birds you don’t know?
{ 19 comments }
← Previous Comments
You know, when you read the spacing correctly it sounds different than as posted above.
vincent’s haiku was spaced differently than above and I’m sure he would be upset if he saw the spacing above. So it’s not exactly like his haiku. He’s very sensative to these things.
But the computer is not.
I just got this amazing haiku from vincent tripi this morning:
Exactly when
to pop the jewelweed pod
dragonflies
-v.tripi
sept.2009
Hope he doesn’t mine me posting it. I’m sort of posting it without his permission…so I’m sort of taking my head in my hands doing this. But it fits so amazingly in this discussion.
I am so very thankful for every person’s point of view on these things. I am glad for Gabi’s history and great learning. I am thankful for Paul’s understanding and his intuitive poetry.
Please do not misunderstand me, Gabi. I value highly your website and appreciate the presentation of fine dragonfly haiku… with pictures and URLs to take one in all directions on the topic. It is well for Westerners to realize the national traditions of Japan (vis-a-vis dragonfly in this case). My point to Merrill Ann, attempted, was to be true to her own geography and traditions. For example, Japanese kigo tradition has the bird species of “swallow” as Spring. Certainly fine, although they are prevalent here in summer as well. But, they do appear and build nests in spring. They also are among the first to migrate south in the fall to more insect-infested areas. They arrive here in the north-central part of Maine just in time to have a profusion of daytime insects to feed their young. Amazing hunters (here are mostly Tree Swallows, locally) their aerobatic displays catch one’s attention. Sitting quietly near a nest (often on a building near the water, protected from rain) one sees parents continually swooping out and returning with a bug. And a favorite food for the bird is dragonflies! Catching one is not easy — swallows do succeed often. They fly from high to low, and can turn quickly. Dragonflies are usually in a more horizontal plane. The catch happens so quickly it is hard to see. Spring bugs for the dragonflies; spring dragonflies for the baby swallows of spring. And all summer, and into fall. With no cultural tradition of 1,000 years or 1,300 years, most N. Americans will see several seasons represented by dragonflies. Gabi, they are much loved here, too. Even by non-poets, and non-naturalists. Folks realize they eat mosquitoes… and that is a good thing. Seeing one fly? More than simply inspiring.
Dragonfly as kigo …
Most dragonflies are of course seen during other seasons too here in Japan, but they are at their best, so to say (shun), in autumn, therefore this is their use as a code word for haiku poetry (kigo) .
Japan was once called Akitsushima meaning “The Island of the Dragon-fly”. So this animal is very dear to the Japanese heart!
.
What a delight you guys are! I love all the information. I also have to add that the thought of Paul Miller’s “wintering harlequins” to me – just the phrase alone – is a poem in itself.
What I have to do is to get the language right…words that will hold the image that I’ve seen. That’s where I have so much trouble, and where all of your help is so important to me.
Many thanks – Merrill
And, Gabi, many other differences. Both damsel- and dragonflies are Odonates and are “cousins.” Damsels are always smaller, but all have similar behaviors and life histories as predators in their underwater larval stages. About 80-85 %, I think it was, of damsels fold their wings when perched. No dragonflies do this. Damselfly bodies are very slender. They seem to be all eyes. Both cousins can often be sexed by color alone — males usually brighter, more intense. Your picture of mating damsels shows this, but mostly on their head colors. The male is impregnating to a spot behind the female’s head. Hey, to each (species) his own!
This is an example where I tend to rebel, for local geographic and weather reasons against the traditional Kyoto saijiki. In North America we had both dragonflies and damselflies in most of three seasons (parts of 4 in the south). The larval stage ends, they crawl up to land and hatch shortly after their prey does. Gnats, small flies, mosquitos, etc. Any small day-flying bugs near water are chased and eaten on the fly, so to speak. Dragonflies may stray away from water to feed, as they can live a pretty long time, but the females lay eggs only to drop into water. You have photos of at least two species of dragonflies. Wing markings and body color are good ID points. The US had hundreds of species and dozens of dragonflies. They hatch, feed, breed — are seen — in many seasons.
Somehow, in the Heian??, the red wing-stripe dragonflies got to be featured as autumn kigo. The color paired with falling leaves, perhaps? It makes no sense in much of the world to have them as autumn only. I saw dragonflies today — mid-September, and a damselfly two days ago. Both present all summer and a lot of spring, depending on what calendar one uses. It is always a matter of tradition vs. what is actually seen, and when. In North America, Merrill Ann, I’d write of what you actually saw… regardless of season elsewhere. The other commenters are right, the different words have different connotations. There is artistic license, sometimes depending upon the haiku itself. Although tiny, damsels are just as ferocious — on a different scale. Dragonflies eat them, too, if they can catch them.
– Paul
There is one more difference between the dragonfly and the damselfly,
they are kigo for different seasons in Japan.
Check the World Kigo Database
(or click my name for details)
The more details in haiku, the better … would be my advise!
Either give a footnote if you think the reader of a differenct culture will not know what it is or hope for the reader to GOOGLE his way to understanding.
Gabi
I think you would have two very different poems depending if you used ‘dragonfly’ vs. ‘damselfly’. And not so much because of the details of the species, but more because a word like ‘dragon’ is an aggressive word while ‘damsel’ is more subdued, courtly. I can’t wait to read the poem. It is a very nice contrast.
← Previous Comments