Saturday, June 30, 2012

Two Flowers: Ikkyū and Jack Kerouac

                                                  Photo by Kurt Stüber






The lotus flower
Is sustained by mud;
This single dewdrop,
Just as it is,
Manifests the real body of truth.
Ikkyū
translated by John Stevens






 Pink & Red Peonies with Butterfly - Hokusai






My butterfly came
     to sit in my flower,
Sir Me
Jack Kerouac





Reading Kerouac and Ikkyū together, as I've been doing, you see immediately their kindred spirits.  Jack here violates every haiku rule and yet the poem could not be any more haiku-like then it already is.   Ikkyū is playing it a little more straight his lovely tankaesque poem. 

These little books that fit in the palm of your hand (.pdf) have been such a delightful way to sustain me as I work through the bigger project I have on my plate (which the closer I get to it, the bigger it is - who'd a thunk?).  Master Issa must have something to say of this?




Dragonfly (detail) by Utamaro






the distant mountain
reflected in his eyes...
dragonfly
Issa
translated by David G. Lanoue






best,
Don

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Wednesday, June 27, 2012

Michael L. Newell & Ann K. Schwader: Wednesday Haiku, Week 73

Photo by Myburgh





my conscience squawking again
pied crow on the roof

            Michael L. Newell





Vintage 1950s toy





early thaw
the cycle cop’s
smile

        Ann K. Schwader







Crow on a Branch by Kawanabe Kyōsai  (woodblock)






frost kills the grass
the coaxing voice
of a crow
Issa
translated by David G. Lanoue






best,
Don

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Wednesday, June 20, 2012

Merrill Ann Gonzales & Kala Ramesh: Wednesday Haiku, Week 72

Photo by Derek Ramsey


sprig of hope
hiding somewhere
this early spring

      Merrill Ann Gonzales





Photo by Gary Halvorson, Oregon State Archives





a yellow breeze
ruffles the hill's outline
summer grass 
Kala Ramesh





 Hunting for Bamboo Shoots by Utagawa Kuniyoshi




 
my spring--
a bit of bamboo
and a willow sprig
Issa
translated by David G. Lanoue




 
best,
Don

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Sunday, June 17, 2012

Jack Kerouac's Headless Hat; or, Issa's Sunday Service, #130






all day
    wearing a hat
that wasn't on my head
Jack Kerouac



My reading of late is strictly in the history of English language haiku and I was extremely pleased to run across praise for Jack's early work in the form by no less a luminary than Cor van den Heuvel (in his volume, Baseball Haiku).  Going through Jack's Book of Haikus (tangentially to the writing project I've been working on) once more, very slowly, has been a true delight.

Here's a little Sunday something that deserves to be #130 on Issa's Sunday Service - it's got the cred - but let's just enjoy for now, eh?  I was going to use the Blues Project's more well-known rendition but the legendary composer, Eric Andersen, didn't trim the lyrics back, so I went that way.

And they, those lyrics, are gorgeous ...

(P.S. Because the connections just never seem to stop, I just stumbled on the fact that Andersen was born in Pittsburgh, PA, and that he contributed "The Brooklyn Bridge Blues: Chorus 10," from The Book of Dharmas, for the Kicks Joy Darkness compilation, on the work of Jack Kerouac.  Oh, yeah.)












Violets of Dawn - Eric Andersen

Take me to the night
I'm tippin' topsy turvy turning upside down
Hold me tight and whisper what you wish
For there is no one here around
Oh you may sing song me sweet smiles
Regardless of the city's careless frown

Come watch the no colors fade blazing
Into petal sprays of Violets of Dawn

In blindful wonderments enchantments
You can lift my wings softly to fly
Your eyes are like swift fingers reaching out
Into the pockets of my night
Whirling twirling puppy warm
before the flashing cloaks of darkness gone

Come see the no colors fade blazing
Into petal sprays of Violets of Dawn

Some Prince Charming I'll be
On two white steeds to bring you
dappled diamond crowns
And climb your tower Sleeping Beauty
Before you ever know I've left the ground
You can wear a Cinderella Snow White
Alice Wonderland-ed gown

Come watch the no colors fade blazing
Into petal sprays of Violets of Dawn

But if I seem to wander off in dream like looks
Please let me settle slowly
It's only me just staring out at you
A seeming stranger speaking holy

I don't mean to wake you up
it's only loneliness just coming on

So let the no colors fade blazing
into petal sprays Of Violets Of Dawn

Like shadows bursting into mist
Behind the echoes of this nonsense song
It's just chasing whispering trail
Of secret steps see them laughing on
There's magic in the sleepiness of waking
to a childish sounding yawn

Come watch the no colors fade blazing
Into petal sprays of Violets of Dawn.




the little boy
tumbling all day...
violets
Issa
translated by David G. Lanoue





Photo by Samalah






best,
Don

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Send a single haiku for the Wednesday Haiku feature. Here's how.

Go to the LitRock web site for a list of all 129 songs

Wednesday, June 13, 2012

John Hawk & Rachael Stanley: Wednesday Haiku, Week #71

Photo by Marvin Smith




disturbed
the deadwood
wriggles      
     John Hawk











an old man surrenders
the coffin accepts
his final offering

       Rachael Stanley












old man's leisure--
this year's tobacco too
becomes smoke
Issa
translated by David G. Lanoue





best,
Don

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Send a single haiku for the Wednesday Haiku feature. Here's how.

Go to the LitRock web site for a list of all 129 songs

Monday, June 11, 2012

Neil & Patti, Jack & Me ...


Check out this fine post by Ben Greenman on Patti Smith and Neil Young, writing books and albums, and living life, may be found at the New Yorker site.  Finer grained than average coverage of an average book expo event than you'd expect.

(If you have trouble with the above link, cut and paste this:
http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/books/2012/06/neil-young-and-patti-smith.html)

Speaking of writing, I will be doing a lot more of it in the foreseeable future, just not nearly as much here at Issa's Untidy Hut.  I've been solicited to produce a piece of writing that I'm at once honored and humbled to be doing.  It will take me more than a few months to do, so the lights will dim down here for awhile, though they won't go out entirely.

I'm going to try to live up to my Wednesday Haiku commitment to post once a week and, if I miss a week now and again, at least you may trust it's with good reason and not by neglect or intent.

What the writing project is I need to keep under wraps for the moment. You folks will be among the first to know once there is clearance.

There is a nice article in a local publication, The Strip (Summer 2012), about Lawrenceville (a Pittsburgh neighborhood) authors, which contains a brief mention of Lilliput Review and Past All Traps.  A tip of the hat to Jude Wudarczyk:

Finally, I've been reading very, very slowly Jack Kerouac's Book of Haikus again.  Here's two from last night's reading:



Flowers
  aim crookedly
At the straight death






I don't care
  what
thusness is











flitting butterfly--
thus is Buddha's law
in this world
Issa
translated by David G. Lanoue






best,
Don

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Send a single haiku for the Wednesday Haiku feature. Here's how.

Go to the LitRock web site for a list of all 129 songs

Wednesday, June 6, 2012

Michael Newell & Bart Solarczyk: Wednesday Haiku, Week 70

Photo by Alex France





dusk's embers linger
old man on a park bench
barely visible

          Michael L. Newell






Photo by Jorge Barrios






tangerine
you could be
next week's moon

           Bart Solarczyk






Wood cut by Mushikago





on top
of a sleeping man's butt...
firefly
Issa
translated by David G. Lanoue






best,
Don

PS. Get 2 free issues. Get 2 more free issues



Send a single haiku for the Wednesday Haiku feature. Here's how.

Go to the LitRock web site for a list of all 129 songs