wildflowers
I cannot name
most of me
The opening line, composed of a single word, slows me down
with its first two long syllables. And that pace is perfect for the
contemplation woven through this economical haiku.
The pivot line is structurally satisfying – it rocks me in (wildflowers/I cannot name) and out (I cannot name/most of me) of the haiku –
as is the balance of 3/4/3 syllables. But these formal characteristic serve the
ideas behind the haiku too.
The first two lines, taken as a couplet, describe a concrete
experience that’s probably common to all of us: a lack of knowledge or names
forgotten as we walk through the countryside. The haiku instantly involves me,
invites me to share the moment.
The 2nd and 3rd lines present a
different kind of couplet: a personal reflection that is both concrete and
abstract. How many of us could recite the litany of parts that make up our own
complex organism? And how many of us are convinced that we truly know and
understand ourselves: the different identities we adopt, the strange imagery
that comes to us in dreams, or spontaneous and surprising emotion in response
to unexpected events?
Yet all of those things are offered to us in this haiku of
seven words.
Haiku are such light expressions it is easy to overload them
with philosophy. The movement from the natural world in line 1 to the economy
of expression in lines 2 and 3 avoids that through understatement and simple
declarative phrase. It manages to be both witty and thoughtful.
It is perhaps no accident that this haiku is the final one
in George Swede’s collection. Rather than close down the book, it opens it up
for me, encourages me to reflect on what I cannot name, what I do not know,
about myself and the wider world. It sets me on a road of discovery, should I
choose to take it.
[1]
George Swede, Joy in Me Still, inkling
press, Edmonton, AB T6G 2T5, Canada, p.79
First published in Notes from the Gean 3.4
Hi Lynne,
ReplyDeleteI like your commentary a lot. George writes such arresting haiku (and tanka, of course) and it's nice to see one highlighted.
Cheers,
Matthew
Thanks, Matthew. I like George's work a lot (and George too!) - there's such effortless and originality in his writing.
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