I believe that Patricia Neubauer is a great artist. She has accomplished many things and I am glad that I had the opportunity to look more closely at her work. Neubauer’s main themes in her haiku, in my opinion, are nature and childhood. I read some of her haiku and I can see the image through the innocent eyes of a child. I find childlike innocence and a sense of imagination is important to have as an adult and I appreciate Neubauer’s work because of it. While thinking more about her haiku, I noticed the constant presence of nature in most of her haiku that I have read. I find the way Neubauer writes her haiku so simply and relaxing to be very intricate and to have a lot of thought put into them. I will go into more detail on some of her haiku to explain my reasoning on Neubauer’s “nature” and “childlike” haiku.
The first thing that I noticed about Patricia Neubauer’s haiku was that it had a very care-free, childlike essence to it. I really enjoyed how light and simple it was. One of the first haiku of Neubauer’s that I read was in The Haiku Anthology, edited by Cor Van Den Heuvel.
toy shop window
a tiny sleigh waits
at the doll house door
Patricia Neubauer, The Haiku Anthology, 136
I really liked the image in this haiku. I pictured a toy store, in the 1920’s, that is decorated for Christmas. It is snowing lightly and the sun has just set. The stores are all closed, but the display in the toy store’s window is still lit up. In the window, there is the doll house and the tiny sleigh. I think that the use of the word “waits” personifies the sleigh and gives it a purpose in the toy store window. The haiku is, in my mind, thought up by a child. The child is being pulled by their mother as they walk quickly past the store. As they walk past the toy store window, the child notices the new sleigh, hoping to get the sleigh for Christmas. I think that this childlike playfulness adds a certain light touch to it. Also, there is a different way to think of this haiku, but it doesn’t take away the playfulness. If anything, it adds to the sense of childhood. The tiny sleigh could also mean a horse drawn sleigh for the dollhouse. The sleigh is now a toy that can be played with more often than just in the snow and however they want to use it with anyone that will be able to ride in it. This care-free, calm, and playful haiku is the reason why I wanted to look more into Patricia Neubauer’s work and discover her other styles of haiku.
In the pamphlet, And To Each Season, which has some of Neubauer’s work in it, I discovered a new favorite by her that painted a really beautiful picture in my mind.
Over the purple hills
rippling streamers of birds
take summer away
Patricia Neubauer, And To Each Season
The way Patricia sets the scene is so relaxing and smooth. The “purple hills” create a sense of twilight. The sun has set and everything is calming down. I picture a skein of geese over the purple hills heading south for the winter. I also imagine a large group of smaller birds that speckle the sky as they fly together through the sky. The description of the “rippling streamers of birds” adds another layer to the image. The birds form moving lines throughout their masses and it appears that they are rippling. The use of the word rippling makes me think of the water of an ocean with different sized waves. I like hos Neubauer took an idea of water and gave it to the flowing motion of flying birds. My favorite line of this haiku is the third one: “take summer away”. It has an unexpected turn in the haiku. The idea that the birds are taking summer away almost seems like it would have to be over analyzed to realize this phenomenon. However, I think it might also take a calm and relaxed mind to come up with the beautiful wording of the poem. The birds are most likely heading south to somewhere warmer. Therefore, summer, the hot, dry season of the year, is following them out instead of leading, in this image. Summer could be thought of as leading them out because it is not warm anymore where the birds are so it seems like summer “travels” to a different place. I think that Neubauer’s approach to this haiku was to create a deeper, unforeseen image of nature’s beauty. It paints such a vivid picture of nature and how everything ties into each other.
Waking late . . .
already the room filled
with dancing leaf shadows
Patricia Neubauer, And To Each Season
The breaks in this haiku are what help bring it all together. The first line, “Waking late…”, creates a moment of realization. The narrator may have slept in and they didn’t think that they would sleep until 11 in the morning. They may have a moment of relaxation and that gives them a chance to reflect on their week or day ahead of them. It can also be viewed as a moment of panic as the narrator is late for work or a prior engagement. However, the haiku goes on to notice something different. The room is already filled. What is it filled with? Is it supposed to be filled? These questions may show up in the split second before moving on to the third line. The third line reveals what is unexpectedly filling the room; leaf shadows. If the word “with” was placed at the end of the second line, it would immediately give away what the haiku was going to say next. If this change was made, you’d expect to find out what the room was filled with in the third line. Since “with” is used at the beginning of the third line, it creates a mystery of what is going to be said after the second line. I think that this haiku was written strategically and with careful observation on everyday events.
Autumn dusk . . .
spears of sumac leaves surround
the rising moon
Patricia Neubauer, And To Each Season
I think that the simplicity of this haiku creates the relaxed and soothing feeling. The line “Autumn dusk” is very simple. There is not much description and it leaves room for the reader to interpret on their own. For example, I picture this setting to be by a small lake, and the sky is a mixture of colors ranging from gold, blue, purple, and a sliver of pink. The next two lines outline the image for the reader. However, there is still plenty of room for interpretation because there are not very many descriptive words such as color, size, angle of the image, where the moon is on the horizon, what the stage of the moon is, etc. The sumac leaves, cleverly described as spears, surround the moon, which is rising. It is very clearly and simply drawn out, but interpretation has so much room in this haiku that it probably will never be the same haiku to two different people. I think that given the reader freedom to interpret their own image and story help the reader to connect to it more and find a deeper meaning in it. This haiku is simple, but still unique and open. I like this haiku for its clear image and the fact that the reader can connect some more dots and color it in.
One lonely cricket song
all that’s left of
summer madrigals
Patricia Neubauer, And To Each Season
Patricia Neubauer writes a lot about nature, but this haiku adds another element: music. The cricket is obviously the main part of the nature theme, but it’s what the cricket creates that outlines this haiku. Music is a reoccurring theme, topic, and part of nature. Music isn’t found referenced in most haiku, though, even if they are not about nature. What I really like about this haiku is that is focuses on one cricket. It’s also described as a “lonely cricket”. From my own experience, crickets are often a huge part of nature’s music of the night. When only one cricket is left, though, it feels like something is missing. There is an eerie feeling when everything but one cricket is silent and you are outside in the dark. Patricia Neubauer pinpoints a lot of little events and details that go unnoticed in everyday life. She focuses on the one cricket and the fact that it’s “all that’s left of summer madrigals”. Therefore, nothing else is clearly “singing” and Neubauer ties in the fact that when this happens, it typically means that summer is ending. It’s not as warm anymore, some of the birds might have left, a few bugs might have died off, and this creates a lull in the rhythm of nature’s music. I think the way Neubauer connected one cricket to a whole changing season is spectacular. She writes about multiple things in her haiku that, if not looked at or thought about more closely, could get lost in the initial reading.
Some of Neubauer’s haiku have a kind of mystery to them. They tell a part of a story, but not enough to fully understand it. For example:
neighbor’s children leave . . .
casually the cat slips out
of the hall closet
Patricia Neubauer, The Haiku Anthology, 137
I think that the main background events to this haiku might seem obvious, but the actual events will never be known. Again, it is left for the reader’s interpretation or own story. I imagine that the cat did not like the way the neighbor’s kids were playing. The cat finally found a place to hide that was safe and dark. It had to wait until the children went home before it felt safe to come out. However, this story could be completely different to you or any other reader. To analyze the haiku more, I like the image of the cat casually slipping out of the closet. I can picture the cat listening and peering around the corner of the door. It does not want to be noticed so it “acts natural” and walks slowly out from behind the door. I think that using the word slip was an excellent choice to describe how the cat would leave the closet, too. It adds to the mystery of the story and how sly the cat is going to be after being scared by the neighbor’s children. I think that this haiku is another good example of how interpretation can change the meaning or image of a haiku.
An example of a haiku that contrasts this idea of music and peacefulness in Patricia Neubauer’s work is:
Clap of thunder
zig-zag of my brush
across the paper
Patricia Neubauer, And To Each Season
This haiku is definitely a change from Neubauer’s work. It still plays along with her theme of nature, but it doesn’t produce a relaxing, peaceful image. The “Clap of thunder” is startling. It startles the narrator and, possibly, the reader because of how different the image is. The description of the brush creating a zig-zag on the paper creates an image in my head of someone writing, painting, or drawing and the sudden boom of the thunder scares them, causing their brush to move as they jump. I find this haiku funny because I have had moments like this. When I get scared suddenly by thunder and I jump, I end up laughing at myself because it would be funny to someone observing me. Also, even though this haiku stands out among some of the other haiku Neubauer has written, I think that it is good to step away from the ordinary and observe something else. I think that this haiku may have been written out of her experience of writing or painting and then being surprised by thunder. I think that it is important to listen and observe what is happening to you and what is around.
Winter twilight . . .
news vendor’s change
icy cold in my hand
Patricia Neubauer, And To Each Season
I think that this haiku is another example of Neubauer stepping away from her usual main themes. The overall theme still has to do with nature, but this haiku also includes human interaction. Even though the interaction isn’t pictured, it’s referenced. In most of the haiku that I have read by Neubauer, there isn’t a lot of human life involved besides the narrator of the poem. This haiku took me in a different direction, but still remained in the theme of nature. I like the focus on the change. It’s “icy cold” in her hand on a winter night. It is from a new vendor who must be very cold as well since no heat was transferred, as described in the haiku. I also like how Neubauer still included her nature theme by using the line “Winter night . . .”. It may not seem too extraordinary, but I think that it gives the reader a sense of where and when this haiku is taking place. Her addition of the human interaction, without actually talking about it, is very subtle and I think that it is a perfect fit for a haiku.
leaving the theatre
the sugar plum fairy
just a pale, thin girl
Patricia Neubauer, Simply Haiku
I find that this haiku contradicts a lot of Neubauer’s typical work. The haiku previously discussed by Neubauer have childlike qualities and play upon the colors and characteristics of nature. In this haiku, Neubauer takes a very different turn on life. She still plays with the idea of color. Also, I think that it qualifies as a nature haiku because of the “sugar plum fairy” and the fact that it is about a human. The color is introduced in the third line by using “pale”. The “sugar plum fairy” also gives a color, which I imagine as a deep red-purple with a sort of glowing quality for the “sugar” and “fairy” descriptions. This image is quickly taken away when Neubauer decided to describe the girl as pale and thin. She almost looks sickly to me and distorts the image of the sugar plum fairy. This “sugar plum fairy”, to me, is relating to the ballet, “The Nutcracker”, which has a movement called “Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy”. Once this is pictured, reading through the haiku, at first I see the ballet in the theatre and the Sugar Plum Fairy is perfectly dancing across the stage with grace and dignity. However, once the third line is reached, that image is torn away to reveal the ballerina to be thin and pale, completely contrasting the original image of her beauty and flowing motions. I think that Neubauer did follow the similar approach to writing haiku in this one, but decided to see the nature and beauty of a performer, but then go backwards from her usual writing habits and take it away. She reveals the girl to be a normal person, fragile and pale, even though, while performing, she may be the image of perfection. I think that this haiku contrasts Neubauer’s other haiku by taking a backwards approach. It still has a deep beauty to it and I like how it portrays a strong image of a natural person.
Patricia Neubauer has created many beautiful pieces of art. Her writing, although mostly around nature, takes readers to so many different places, times, and events. I particularly enjoy her “childlike” haiku because they bring me back to a time of innocence, where the rest of the world did not matter. Getting the chance to read and analyze haiku or any kind of art is a great opportunity to relax, discover, and enjoy the beauty and tragedy of the world. I think that Neubauer’s work is unique and represents the world’s beauty in such a simple, soothing, and relaxing way.
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Works Cited
Neubauer, Patricia. "Patricia Neubauer." The Haiku Anthology. Ed. Cor Van Den Heuvel. 3rd ed. New York: W.W. Norton, 1999. 136-137. Print.
Neubauer, Patricia. And To Each Season. Aylmer: Haiku Canada Sheet, 1988-89. Print.
Featured Poet: Patricia Neubauer 3.4 (2005): n. pag. Simply Haiku: Quarterly Journal of Japanese Short Form Poetry ~ Senryu. 2005. Web. 02 Nov. 2014.
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