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Beneath the Surface: A Closer Look at Penny Harter’s Haiku
After reading several different works from author Penny Harter, I found her work to be very spiritual and connected with nature. Upon my readings, however, I discovered that there were several haiku that could be interpreted in different ways. I then grouped these haiku and looked at them closely. I realize there was more meaning beneath them than what was on the surface. I will now share these haiku and discuss the meanings that lie beneath the surface of her work. These are the questions that came to mind upon reading her work: Why are we so consumed with physical appearances? What does beauty mean to the individual? What distorts the physical appearance of beauty? I found this selection of haiku to be very interesting and will now discuss these findings in greater detail.
in the ladies’ room
lipstick mouths
on the discarded tissues
Penny Harter, In the Broken Curve, 19
I immediately picture a restroom with mirrors above the sink and a garbage can overflowing. In this garbage can there are lipstick covered tissues from the women who were in here previously. The thing that I find almost humorous in this is that we put on lipstick and then wipe it off. To me I find it interesting that women take the time to put on make up and check their appearances in the mirror, only to wipe some of it off moments later. I wonder what the point is to put on lipstick and then wipe it off. I think that people in general are consumed by physical appearances, and often neglect to take a look at what is on the inside. How readily we are to discard something that doesn’t fit the mold, but maybe those are the things we should hold on to.
beneath the coiffed hair
scabs on her scalp
Penny Harter, In the Broken Curve, 21
This haiku brings to mind an older woman, who is still trying to maintain her physical appearance, despite the cost- scabs on her scalp. She still wants to look kempt and put together, although her scalp is paying the consequences. She puts on an air about her that she is able to keep her physical beauty, and her hair being coiffed is hiding the scabs. I picture a hair style that is full and “puffy,” which enables her to hide the scabs. There may also be something wrong with her- either a skin condition or severe illness. In that case, she is trying to hide her illness and she is taking pride in her appearance, despite her physical illness.
she bites into
the lipstick on
her bread
Penny Harter, Monkey Face, 20
I picture a fancy dinner party and a woman, who is made up heavily, is eating. The amount of lipstick has to be great in order to leave marks on her bread. She goes on eating and I begin to wonder if she now has lipstick on her teeth from the amount that was on her bread. Would this make her self-conscious? Would she even know? Would anyone who saw her and her lipstick teeth tell her? These are questions that popped into my head as I read this and I found it quite an interesting haiku. Again, we are faced with a haiku that leads us to believe that the woman is aware of her physical appearance and the time and effort she has put in to make her appearance flattering.
winter sunset
reddening
Mother’s cheeks
Penny Harter, Monkey Face, 26
This haiku takes on a natural element that adds to the beauty of mother’s face. This mother is not necessarily concerned with her physical appearance, but allows natural beauty do the work. The cold weather plays a part in the mother’s beauty and acts as a natural blush to the woman’s face. I really enjoyed this haiku because I thought it allowed us to see the beauty of nature. We do not necessarily need make up to make us beautiful, we can allow nature and our own natural beauty define our physical appearance. You can picture the mother standing outside enjoying the fresh air, despite the temperature.
this morning
another handful
of my hair
Penny Harter, In the Broken Curve, 86
I immediately picture a woman who is undergoing chemotherapy and she is still trying to keep her appearance up. The reaction her body is feeling from the chemotherapy is reflected in her physical appearance as well. This may only be the beginning stages and she is starting to lose her hair. She is overwhelmed with emotions over having to receive chemotherapy and the side effects. I imagine she is feeling sick and finding clumps of hair is not improving her condition. She is faced with a battle that she may not win and have to relinquish some of herself before it is over. She is dealing with physical, emotional, and mental stress that breaks her down even more. I think the physical act of losing her hair is also a shock to the system—a hard reality that she has to face.
the old woman
brushing gray hair
until it sparks
Penny Harter, In the Broken Curve, 59
I picture an older woman who is brushing her thinning hair for so long that it is causing static electricity. I think that she is lost in thought and having flashbacks to her younger years. She is picturing herself a young woman with beautiful locks of her, not the thinning, graying hair that she has when she looks in the mirror. This woman may once have been a real “looker,” which she still pictures herself to be even though she knows she is not. She seems to be lost in her memory and continues to brush her hair, because she is lost in time. She takes pride in her physical appearance and she will not let graying hair change that.
Grandmother’s mirror—
age spots
the glass
Penny Harter, The Haiku Anthology, 70
I picture a woman, who is getting older, looking in a mirror and seeing spots on the mirror’s glass, but what she sees is the spots appearing as age spots on her own face. She contemplates what she will look like later on in her life and compares that image to her own grandmother’s, whose mirror she is looking in. She is overwhelmed with a feeling of the unknown for the future and evaluates her image in the mirror. Her age and beauty are distorted in the age spotted mirror. Another interpretation of this haiku is one of a woman who looks in the mirror and sees physical age spots on her face as she looks in the mirror’s glass. She is looking at her reflection and sees that her youthful appearance is diminishing with time. She is unsure about how she feels being faced with growing older and what it means for her to feel as if she is losing her attractiveness. For both of these interpretations, I feel that these questions are on the minds of the two different women looking into their grandmother’s mirror: Does this mean I will lose my physical attractiveness or will my beauty increase with age?
For the next set of haiku I chose to look at from a non-human point of view. These haiku bring about the physical appearance and how the imperfections affect appearance.
rainbow
ending among
the petroleum tanks
Penny Harter, In the Broken Curve, 38
I liked this haiku, because it takes the beauty of a rainbow and distorts some of that beauty from the region surrounding it. You have a beautiful, natural rainbow that is ending among petroleum tanks. These tanks are responsible for some of the damage that is being done to our natural world. In this haiku it is almost ironic that something that is naturally beautiful, like the rainbow, is being destroyed by another natural element. For this haiku I felt that there was much more underlying the appearance of the beauty of the rainbow and what it represents. I felt that Penny Harter was trying to say something about beauty and what we do to achieve that supreme goal of being the most beautiful. I think immediately of someone who is already beautiful, but does not see it for themselves. They will go to any length to achieve this feeling of true beauty. So, they go to a plastic surgeon to achieve their dream. The damage that they have incurred from altering their own natural beauty by visiting and changing their looks in their pursuit of being beautiful is like that of the rainbow—a natural beauty, in length, ending at the petroleum tanks. They now have a distorted vision of themselves being beautiful, when they already were to begin with. I think this is one of the most powerful haiku that is written by Penny Harter, because it leaves much more below the surface of the original haiku. There is more depth to it, but there is also just the possibility that there is meaning to the rainbow that ends at the petroleum tanks from a naturalistic point of view.
wrinkles
in the white icing
of the birthday cake
Penny Harter, The Haiku Anthology, 70
Again this haiku takes on the image of the beauty in a non-human form. There is a birthday cake with white icing and the wrinkles are part of their appearance. Do the wrinkles make the cake more or less appealing? For me, it makes the cake more appealing, because it is the flaws or imperfections that make something special. For others, the wrinkles might be less appealing, because they believe everything should be perfect. In our world, it is the people who are flawed that are true, because there is no such thing as a perfect person. I really liked the use of the birthday cake and what it symbolizes—happiness. Does it really matter if the icing has wrinkles in it? For me- it is what is inside or beneath that layer of icing—the sweet taste of cake, but the same can be said of people.
It is my belief that Penny Harter took a closer look at beauty and appearances and wrote some wonderful haiku to discuss it. I think the selected haiku are an example of what Penny Harter has to say about beauty and physical appearances. What really matters- what is on the inside of someone or what their appearance is on the outside? While someone may lack actual physical beauty, they may have true inner beauty. This is something we all should seek to achieve. Penny Harter takes these ideals and writes wonderful haiku expressing these ideals and beliefs, bringing to life what lies beneath the surface and giving us something more to think about.
Works Cited
Harter, P. (1984). In The Broken Curve. Sherbrooke, PQ Canada: Burnt Lake Press.
Harter, P. (1987). The Monkey's Face. Fanwood, NJ: From Here Press.
Den Heuvel, C. V. (1999). The Haiku Anthology. New York, NY: W.W. Norton & Company. |
