Comments on: Viral 5.5 http://www.thehaikufoundation.org/2010/02/04/viral-5-5/ Mon, 06 Feb 2012 14:47:07 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3 By: Merrill Ann Gonzales http://www.thehaikufoundation.org/2010/02/04/viral-5-5/comment-page-5/#comment-1953 Merrill Ann Gonzales Fri, 19 Feb 2010 02:46:16 +0000 http://www.thehaikufoundation.org/?p=4567#comment-1953 I agree with Michael...Men may die for lack of what is written there...but to turn poetry into the servant of any agenda to me speaks of the enslavement of the mind and heart of the human being. It wouldn't take long before men would die from what is written there... I agree with Michael…Men may die for lack of what is written there…but to turn poetry into the servant of any agenda to me speaks of the enslavement of the mind and heart of the human being. It wouldn’t take long before men would die from what is written there…

]]> By: Lorin Ford http://www.thehaikufoundation.org/2010/02/04/viral-5-5/comment-page-4/#comment-1945 Lorin Ford Thu, 18 Feb 2010 02:15:42 +0000 http://www.thehaikufoundation.org/?p=4567#comment-1945 William Carlos Williams -- (from "Asphodel, That Greeny Flower") It is difficult to get the news from poems yet men die miserably every day for lack of what is found there. William Carlos Williams –

(from “Asphodel, That Greeny Flower”)

It is difficult
to get the news from poems
yet men die miserably every day
for lack
of what is found there.

]]> By: Allan Burns http://www.thehaikufoundation.org/2010/02/04/viral-5-5/comment-page-4/#comment-1938 Allan Burns Wed, 17 Feb 2010 06:18:34 +0000 http://www.thehaikufoundation.org/?p=4567#comment-1938 "Poetry makes nothing happen."--Auden "Poets are the unacknowledged legislators of the world."--Shelley A lot depends on perspective. “Poetry makes nothing happen.”–Auden

“Poets are the unacknowledged legislators of the world.”–Shelley

A lot depends on perspective.

]]> By: Michael Dylan Welch http://www.thehaikufoundation.org/2010/02/04/viral-5-5/comment-page-4/#comment-1935 Michael Dylan Welch Wed, 17 Feb 2010 02:57:00 +0000 http://www.thehaikufoundation.org/?p=4567#comment-1935 Are haiku important? Not by a long shot. Not when there is hunger in the world, and poverty. Not when there is suffering, or hatred. Not when illness and disease and homelessness and a hundred other issues still persist around the world. But I am also reminded of the song "Bread and Roses" (I like the version by Judy Collins best). In it, she sings that "Hearts starve as well as bodies -- give us bread but give us roses." The story behind this lyric is compelling to me, and reminds me why art is important in life (you can read about it at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bread_and_Roses). If haiku are not important in the face of human suffering, the obvious question might be to ask if haiku should try to alleviate suffering in some way -- by promoting world peace or by employing some other agenda. Hell no. Please! Haiku with an agenda such as this makes the aesthetic ideal subservient to the political or activist agenda -- and thus, in my opinion, nearly always destroys the art. Yes, art can be political, and some good art does have an agenda, but my feeling is that, most of the time, haiku is better off without it. Haiku has a sort of importance -- as with other arts, it's something we live FOR. We seek to overcome the suffering in life so that we can enjoy the magnificent pleasures of being human. But haiku should not, in my opinion, ever have an agenda -- other than an aesthetic one. Haiku will be what it is, and I don't see how it matters whether it has "importance" or not. Michael Are haiku important? Not by a long shot. Not when there is hunger in the world, and poverty. Not when there is suffering, or hatred. Not when illness and disease and homelessness and a hundred other issues still persist around the world. But I am also reminded of the song “Bread and Roses” (I like the version by Judy Collins best). In it, she sings that “Hearts starve as well as bodies — give us bread but give us roses.” The story behind this lyric is compelling to me, and reminds me why art is important in life (you can read about it at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bread_and_Roses).

If haiku are not important in the face of human suffering, the obvious question might be to ask if haiku should try to alleviate suffering in some way — by promoting world peace or by employing some other agenda. Hell no. Please! Haiku with an agenda such as this makes the aesthetic ideal subservient to the political or activist agenda — and thus, in my opinion, nearly always destroys the art. Yes, art can be political, and some good art does have an agenda, but my feeling is that, most of the time, haiku is better off without it.

Haiku has a sort of importance — as with other arts, it’s something we live FOR. We seek to overcome the suffering in life so that we can enjoy the magnificent pleasures of being human. But haiku should not, in my opinion, ever have an agenda — other than an aesthetic one. Haiku will be what it is, and I don’t see how it matters whether it has “importance” or not.

Michael

]]> By: Merrill Ann Gonzales http://www.thehaikufoundation.org/2010/02/04/viral-5-5/comment-page-4/#comment-1925 Merrill Ann Gonzales Tue, 16 Feb 2010 01:55:05 +0000 http://www.thehaikufoundation.org/?p=4567#comment-1925 John, I feel that continuum comes from the "importance" (for want of a better word) from individual to individual. It's like the theory of light that is particle/wave. What sparks one and one and one ... ultimately because of that essential "suchness" experienced. Everyone has the opportunity to be any kind of artist they want to be. Even in the most repressive regimes in the world, there are great artists. I feel that it is the human connection...that passes on from one person to another an encompassing understanding of our humanity and the universality in which the human being exists. John, I feel that continuum comes from the “importance” (for want of a better word) from individual to individual. It’s like the theory of light that is particle/wave. What sparks one and one and one … ultimately because of that essential “suchness” experienced. Everyone has the opportunity to be any kind of artist they want to be. Even in the most repressive regimes in the world, there are great artists. I feel that it is the human connection…that passes on from one person to another an encompassing understanding of our humanity and the universality in which the human being exists.

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