Six Traditions, Six Poems

[al fogel]

David: here are three of a religious nature but two with unfavorable connotations. Don't know if they fit. If not--let me know and I'll remove.


longtime neighbor
informed of my religion
introduces himself


Saturday Shul
someone sitting
in my paid seat


someone stole
[                   ]
a buddha statue


           --al fogel

[John McManus]

Hello everyone, I can't remember where I saw this haiku or who wrote it, but I have always remembered it and think it is a very different angle to look at when it comes to haiku with religious connotations.

easter sunday
a ressurection
in his pants     

P.S  If anyone knows who's haiku this is and where it has appeared please let me know

-John  

[carmensterba]

I'd like to offer this one:

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

- Sandra Simpson

winner, Kokako Haiku Contest (NZ), 2008


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

I felt like this in Kamakura, Japan, Sandra. You can feel the layers and layers of history almost everywhere you go where the trees are a thousand years old in the temples.

Carmen

[sandra]

Thanks for that Carmen, good to know it's not just me!

I have tried, but so far failed, to write something meaningful about a visit to the Avebury stone circle in England. As a site it's less grand than Stonehenge, but also not as touristed and visitors are able to move among the stones (in fact the village is built across part of the circle).

http://www.avebury-stones.co.uk/ I like the part about its original use not yet being clear ... isn't it that we've forgotten?

best,
Sandra

[DavidGrayson]

Hi Al,

Thanks for sharing. I certainly think the three poems you shared are relevant. I think it’s fair to point out that sharing a certain tradition can not only bring out the best in people, but sometimes the not-quite-best. For example, a sense of connection with other people of the same religion can sometimes lead to hostility to “outsiders,” etc.

[DavidGrayson]

Hi John,

The haiku you mention reminds me of a short poem by Sharon Olds (not a haiku). Entitled “The Pope’s Penis,” it’s well-known but controversial. You can read it here: http://www.americanpoems.com/poets/Sharon-Olds/5582.

[John McManus]

Hi David, thanks for the link. Sharon's poem was certainly interesting, and clever in various ways. To me her poem isn't controversial, perhaps provoking would be a better term, some people have obviously not been reading it with an objective mind and have presumed to know the poet's intent.

Here is a haiku of mine which has religious content. I hope you enjoy it

muffled hymns
cigarette smoke fills
the churchyard

published in Notes from the Gean, issue 2:3

-John

[AlanSummers]

Hi David,

I agree with John, although her last line might upset a few people. ;-)

We also have to remember that Jesus wasn't a Christian, and I doubt he would have converted to Catholicism.  I would imagine he would expect people to be interested in what he had to say, rather than convert it to religion.

Sharon's poem (she's a regular in my part of England) is thought-provoking in as much as it can act as a catalyst if we are not closed up in our attitudes and belief-systems.

That's essentially the main useful tool for poetry, in my opinion, and it's always a shame that some poets would prefer only a closed audience for their work, and that some sections of the world population act in a similar manner.

Thanks for posting this poem, I'd forgotten about it.

Alan