Complex Acts of Human Awareness

When our group visited Japan in 2007, I saw this one plant (and a little moss) 

thriving in a crevice of the intricate stonework of  a castle's foundation. 

Everywhere I looked in Japan,

I saw evidences of intelligent and beautiful craftsmanship.

Editor's Note: I have been revisiting old Paris Review Interviews with poets.
Did you know that all these writer's interviews are now available online?
Today I was reading the interview with Jorie Graham and found Basho!


"I do worry considerably about a reader’s patience—how much mental or emotional space they have in their life in this crushingly full world to give to the reading of a poem. Many of today’s readers prefer fast poems with stated conclusions, partly because they can fit them into their day. Who can blame them? They have precious little time. They want the Cliff Notes to the overwhelmingly huge novel. Of course, it is poetry’s job to try to provide the very opposite—to recomplicate the oversimplified thing. This doesn’t require going on at length—lord knows some of the more complex acts of human awareness occur in Basho."

                       from Jorie Graham, The Art of Poetry 85. 
               Paris Review, Spring, 2003, Issue No. 165.
  

Deep autumn--

my neighbor

how does he live, I wonder

Basho

trans by Robert Hass

  

autumn deepens

so what does he do

the man next door

Basho

trans. by Jane Reichhold

this autumn

why getting older is like

a bird into clouds

Basho

trans. by Jane Reichhold

Drifting in conversation . . .

This was another spring haiku outing in one of the many Japanese Gardens in our area.

If you look carefully, you can see three people in blue on the far side of the pond.

The one in the center is Dave Wright, who was president of Yuki Teikei 

for several years until 1992. Obviously, he is writing haiku!

The one to the right is his wonderful wife, Rosalynn, 

who was always able to enliven any gathering with her good cheer.

   

lazy afternoon

drifting in conversation--

the gardenia

      

Patricia J. Machmiller

acorn--

rolling three times

then into the pond

             

Issa

translated by David Lanoue

evening--

in the area with no pond, too

cherry blossoms scatter

      

Issa

translated by David Lanoue

Asilomar Beach at Dawn

Asilomar Beach at dawn; others have been here before me.

another morning

pink and blue strokes of genius

on a broad palette

Michael Henry Lee

Haiku Poet & Bartender

                                                                                             jhhymas

This is Jerry Kilbride on the beach at Asilomar in 1992; I'm pretty sure he is writing haiku,

He was a mainstay of our Haiku Retreats for many years. He was also

 an honorary curator of the American Haiku Archive at the California State Library.

He had been instrumental in its founding.

Here is a link to his obituary on NPR.

I always thought he pretended to be a little cranky to camouflage his sweet spirit.

end of a long day

the old bartender's feet

take the floorboards home

cloud shadows

on silent cliffs

where condors nested

fog . . .

just the tree and I

at the bus stop

windows filled with light

at the home for the blind,

christmas night

nursing a friend with AIDS

I close the window

against rain

last flutter

of the butterfly

in the mime’s hand

mime

lifting 

fog

jumping rope

the little girl and her shadow

touch touch touch touch touch

Jerry Kilbride

In the Great Hall at Nara

                                                                                                            jhhymas

This is one of the huge temple guardians in the Great Hall at Nara. 

For information on these figures, which have a rich and varied tradition 
through many countries and centuries

see the Wikipedia article "Nio" at this link.

A highlight of the visit to Japan in 1997 was a trip to Nara, 

where we visited the Great Buddha Hall, an immense wooden building 

that was erected to house a huge bronze statue of the Buddha. 

The previous wooden structures were destroyed by fire.

For the history of this temple, see the Wikipedia article "Todaiji"

Basho also visited this site before the third iteration of the temple was completed.

kiku no ka ya | Nara ni wa furuki | hotoketachi

     

scent of chrysanthemums

in Nara

ancient Buddhas

   

Basho

      

hatsu yuki ya | itsu Daibutsu no | hashira date

        

first snow!

when will the temple building start

for the Great Buddha?

   

Basho

Great Buddha's Hall--

I buy a charm for 

earthquakes

      

June Hopper Hymas

  

(There was a shop at Todaiji, where one could purchase little paper charms. 

Since I lived in California, I thought an earthquake charm might be the most useful.)

Secluded Spot

Where the beach meets the dunes at Asilomar, there is a little eroded cove.

It is a most excellent place to spread a blanket and sit to write haiku!

Pat Shelley often sat here to write.

of all the human 

figures on the beach

the one not there

June Hopper Hymas

A Chopped Herb Helps

                                                                                       jhhymas

At the Asilomar Retreat featuring Robert Hass in 1992, 

Lequita Vance-Watkins tries to explain something to Jerry Kilbride;

he's not so sure.

Lequita is the former Executive Director of the San Jose Center for Poetry & Literature 

and is the author of 

White Flash/Black Rain: Women of Japan Relive the Bomb, Milkweed Editions, 1995.

Jerry Kilbride was a beloved haiku stalwart in the Bay Area for many years. 

Here is a link to his memorial broadcast on NPR.

yomo ni utsu / nazuna ni shidoro/ modoro kana

Everyone says

a chopped herb helps

if you are confused

   

Basho

translated by Robert Aitken

The River of Heaven; haiku of Basho, Buson, Issa

and Shiki, Counterpoint, 2011, page 64.