Six Traditions, Six Poems

[DavidGrayson]

Here are six haiku that reference six religious/spiritual traditions. For one reason or another, I’ve found each of these poems to be compelling. Together, they evoke a range of emotion from skepticism to playfulness. I don’t know if any of these featured poets are particularly religious. I suspect that they’re like many haiku poets who, whatever their religious inclination, write a haiku that references religion from time to time.

- Do any of these haiku resonate with you? Do you have a favorite?
- Are there other religious/spiritually oriented haiku that you’d like to share?
- Only six traditions are represented here. Can you share a haiku that invokes another tradition?

….................


Chinese New Year
my RSVP
to the Monkey King

- Ebba Story
  (Mariposa 10)


Vedic chants …
a heron glides to a rock
in the misty lake

- K. Ramesh
  (Montage #24)


fog in the valley --
long creak of prayer wheels
into the night

- Sonam Chhoki
  (Frogpond 34:1. From the haibun “When my father became prayer flags...”)


Passover Seder . . .
the matzos
dry as sand

- Stanford Forrester
  (the toddler’s chant: Selected Poems, 1998-2008)


River Baptism
for those of us not sure
the rain starts

- Garry Gay
  (Mariposa 12)


airport departure
the muezzin’s voice fills
the waiting room

- Bruce Ross
  (Frogpond 34:1. From “Morocco Sequence 2010: For Moha and Aziz”)

[Don Baird]

While I would like to ponder these a bit more, I want you to know how much I enjoyed them and, by the way, the sequence in which you placed them.  That's what struck me the most initially - the order that you chose to present them.  I like it and the presentation works for me as a whole and as poems individually.

Thanks for sharing these.  I'll be back to enjoy the ensuing conversations. 

best,

Don

[DavidGrayson]

Thanks, Don. I found that I really liked this set of haiku as a group (as well as individually). I started out listing the poems chronologically based on the date of origin of each tradition invoked. There’s some room for debate, of course. Ebba’s Chinese New Year poem seems the proper one to begin with. Bruce’s poem about departure seemed the perfect one to end with.

David 

[AlanSummers]

For some reason Christian related haiku only occasionally resonate for me.

airport departure
the muezzin’s voice fills
the waiting room

- Bruce Ross
  (Frogpond 34:1. From “Morocco Sequence 2010: For Moha and Aziz”)

This resonated partly because I almost lived out of suitcases and airports during my five years of constantly going round the world re pre-set & set up of conferences and conventions, as well as being part of a small dedicated team securing the area for both eventees and guest speaker V.I.P.s.   

Also for one of my few holidays I wasn't working for once and travelled through Ramadan in Turkey.  I say travelled through Ramadan because most religious festivals are a journey in themselves even if there is no physical destination.  I was impressed by the festival/religious discipline and observed it myself, although I follow no religion.

Alan

[DavidGrayson]

Alan,

Funny you should mention “lived out of suitcases.” I’ve tried several times to write haiku with the word “suitcase” – to no avail, at this point. For me, the word is rich in associations and dovetails with the long tradition of travel haibun and haiku.

David

[Don Baird]

David,

Your choices are right on the money.  The Ross poem really is tight and prefect for the finish!  Now, I'm thinking of adding "suitcases" to another thread.  They are writing about clouds, crows etc. and why not a suitcase?    Now ... that ought to be interesting.

best,

Don

ps... I have never kept a suitcase haiku either!

[DavidGrayson]

Don,

I'll check out the suitcase thread if you add it!

Best,
David

[Don Baird]

Hi David,

"Suitcase" posted in Share Haiku ...    But, no one has ventured a poem yet.  This may prove interesting ... on its own!

thanks,

Don

[carmensterba]

I'd like to share 6 more. Have you ever read Raymond Roseliep? He was a Catholic priest from Dubuque, Iowa who eventually studied zen, also (1917-83). Here's a one of his from the Mann Library's Daily Haiku:

birthcry!
        the stars
        are all in place

- Raymond Roseliep

the following are from Roseliep's last book, Rabbit in the Moon,

so small a child
pushing clouds
from the moon

 what is
 in light
 is light:
 
 And from The Morning Glory:

takes in
the world
from the heart out

There's a lot to take in from this small selection of haiku. Roseliep certainly has had a good following.

                                              * * * * * *

When I visit my niece in California, who is new age, we choose a Quaker Meeting which we both can enjoy rather than my regular church. Here's one haiku I wrote in California:

the Quakers’ silence
spills out a wide-open door
--autumn woods 

Modern Haiku 35:

and another written at a pond near a Japanese Bible Camp:

an amber glow
through crimson maples
evensong 

Modern Haiku, Winter-Spring, 2005

Carmen Sterba
                                                       

[DavidGrayson]

Hi Carmen,

I am familiar with Roseliep. I actually featured one of his poems in my first post about unity:

downpour:
my "I-Thou"
T-shirt

I love his poetry, his sensibility, his voice. I hadn’t read some of the ones you quote here. I like all four, and particularly the last two. Wow.

I love your Quaker silence poem. I’m working on another post about haiku as prayer. At this stage, the post includes a haiku by Robert Major, who was a lifelong Quaker:

silent Friends meeting …
the sound of chairs being moved
to enlarge the circle


Thanks for sharing!

David

[carmensterba]

Wonderful! Ruth Yarrow is also a Quaker like Robert. She would be a good person
to get in touch with, if you haven't already. Robert was in Haiku Northwest, as Ruth
and I are, too.

Carmen

[Don Baird]

Fabulous thread.  Thanks so much for sharing these.  Perfect!

[sandra]

I have thoroughly enjoyed reading your selection, David, and the following posts. Very interesting comments and great poems.

I'd like to offer this one:

pausing also
at the sacred matai ...
a wood pigeon

- Sandra Simpson

winner, Kokako Haiku Contest (NZ), 2008

On our way back from a niece's wedding, we stopped beside a 2-lane highway to visit this tree (which has a signpost to it). As we crossed the quiet road to the tree a native wood pigeon (kereru) flew overhead, the distinctive swooshing sound making us look up.

Matai is also known as black pine (Prumnopitys taxifolia) and this one is sacred to the Maori of the area. The story is recorded here:
http://www.waymarking.com/waymarks/WM67X0_Hinehopus_Tree_Rotorua_District_New_Zealand

Sacred places, I find, have something about them. Perhaps it's the long period of reverence at one spot that adds an "atmosphere" ... or perhaps I am too suggestible! Some believe that the land has memories.

Best wishes,
Sandra

[sandra]

Here's another, though I wonder if this fits your theme. Sort of yes, sort of no ...


dry season –
rock paintings
by a vanished people

- Sandra Simpson

The Heron’s Nest, March 2005

[DavidGrayson]

Hi Sandra,

Thanks for sharing these two haiku. I like both, especially “dry season.” Interesting about the matai. One reason I like to hear other poets' work is that I get the oppotunity to learn about other traditions and regions.

David