|
|
Jeffrey Winke's Not There Haiku
When it came time to choose who I would do my author study on, I was left grasping. The good thing about haiku artists is they each have their own distinct writing style and experiences. The bad thing about haiku artists is the majority’s desire to incorporate “pretty words” or over crafted nature moments to water down their perspectives. I wanted to research someone who was raw, wrote of every day moments, and ranged from wholesome to erotic. After reading Dr. Brook’s suggestion of the 2002 Haiku Society of America Merit Book Award winner What’s Not There (2001) by Jeffrey Winke, I knew I had found my match!
Winke sets the stage of this anthology of selected haiku with a quote by Parmenides, a Greek philosopher and poet- “Nothing can come from nothing, and nothing that exists can become nothing”. As Charles Trumball writes in W.N.T.’s foreword, “Since Basho’s time, Japanese poets have cherished the aesthetic of sabi . . . finding beauty and fullness in what is past or gone or absent. Individually and collectively Jeff’s haiku have that aesthetic in abundance.” Just as the black, embossed title leaps from the cover, so does it’s meaning throughout this collection. It is obvious that Winke has a sixth sense of seeing haiku as he encounters each day. Seemingly insignificant but every day events show themselves to him in a way that the average person misses. A majority of successful haiku poets seem to possess this ability within nature, but Winke’s scope is much broader: from nature, to love, to street encounters, to corporate interactions, to lust and more.
In W.N.T.’s introduction he writes “A shadow at night…a glimmer of insight…a stranger’s glance… a cardinal’s call… these are the kinds of everyday occurrences that can lead to a haiku. Fleeting moments like these cross our awareness continually.” While it’s true that writing about things we visually see every day and connect with can sometimes be a daunting task, praise to Winke for diving even deeper into our societal subconscious and overlooked ways to find a new depth of American sabi haiku. While it takes a keener eye and patience to reveal what is not there, the outcome is of higher quality work and one that reader’s can come back to again and again for enjoyed insights.
What’s Not There Haiku
baby dragonfly
has not yet caught the rainbow
in his wings
(Jeffrey Winke, What’s Not There, no pg.)
sunny
what warmth there is
blows in the breeze
(Jeffrey Winke, What’s Not There, no pg.)
rural tavern
leaning against the juke box
someone’s chain saw
(Jeffrey Winke, What’s Not There, no pg.)
While the other two haiku examples express elements in nature that are not there, this one throws the reader in a whole new direction of “what’s not there” by using a man made object in a human setting. As the reader, I saw a middle aged man leaning against the juke box as the second line concluded. The third line is a real zinger as it forces to the audience to create a whole new scenario. Instead of writing about what was not physically present, Winke allowed the reader to first create what wasn’t there- they did the work for him.
While the title and underlying current of the book originate from “what’s not there”, I found two other themes that seem to inspire, and thus, set Winke’s haiku apart- the first, as Trumball refers to it, “the dilemma of the modern man”( W.N.T.’s). This book has a potpourri of haiku regarding city dwellers, public transportation, farmers of today, the business world, making love, and raising a family. Through sweat, kisses, tears, semen, laughter, and exhaust entangled air he tells these stories.
The Dilemma of the Modern Man
farmers’ market:
the way the sun
redness the rhubarb
(Jeffrey Winke, What’s Not There, no pg.)
Farmers’ markets are known for the variety and freshness they produce- usually in a more urban center, far from where it originated. Its location plays a huge part in the message of this haiku because it’s not about the redness of the rhubarb, but the way the sun reddens it after it has been picked. To show that the beautiful color of this fresh vegetable can come alive in a crowded shopping area is inspirational. It shows that the sun reaches every city and town, no matter how populated and no matter what occupations may reside there in.
listening to his shit-
the street hustler’s
bad breath
(Jeffrey Winke, What’s Not There, no pg.)
(Jeffrey Winke, What’s Not There, no pg.)
The final theme, and my favorite, is love, lust and sex. Because I feel these three subjects are the most important in everyone’s life, I am often confused as to why they are used so infrequently in haiku, especially regarding lust and sex. Winke does not disappoint as he includes racy, desirous, sexy, and horny selections. He is not afraid to write about what inspires him, nor does he water down his poetry for an audience that is concerned with feeling too alive or becoming embarrassed by his forthrightness. Because he writes about this more infrequent material, his writing is often compared to George Swede’s. Yes, there are the obvious parallels that range from both being male haiku poets who try to touch on controversial and suggestive topics and even to the ironic title of Swede’s 2000 title (Almost Unseen), but to me there is a significant difference. While I enjoy both works, Winke’s stands out because he does not just point out how a woman’s body moves or what it does, but how he admires it and appreciates it in subtle, every day instances. A less formal and analytical approach to these subjects is apparent as one can feel that Winke is enamored and enjoying them right along side the reader. One comparing example:
one button undone
in the clerk’s blouse I let her
steal my change
(George Swede, Almost Unseen, pg. 97)
her seven-button
blouse…
three undone
(Jeffrey Winke, What’s Not There, no pg.)
While their subject material is one-in-the-same, their tones differ immensely. Winke accomplishes the same physical observation as Swede but with more attention to detail (the exact number of buttons) which shows the reader how transfixed he was. It wasn’t a flippant overview of woman’s low top, but one in which he recognized the four button obstacle between him and his lust. While it’s easy to see the humor in both of these haiku, through his design specifics, Winke shows his admiring affection.
Love, Lust, and Sex
into it
her fingers encircle
headboard spindles
(Jeffrey Winke, What’s Not There, no pg.)
her points
just graze
the limbo rod
(Jeffrey Winke, What’s Not There, no pg.)
her lush lips part
to a gentle snore,
airport wait
(Jeffrey Winke, What’s Not There, no pg.)
Winke wrote, “Over the past quarter-century I have realized that it is the haiku poet’s challenge to capture the essence and the deeper reverberations of these moment in brief poems”( W.N.T.’s ). I believe this haiku best supports his reason for writing haiku. He took a single breath exuded from one woman, and made her tantalizing, showed their weary journey together, and made this act sleeping (such a private moment) transfix the image of a busy airport being almost soundless and in a state of slow motion. This small moment showed more about this relationship and their current circumstances then any paragraph could have.
While learning about Jeffrey Winke’s work, I worked solely from the hard copy of What’s Not There. However, I was able to find on-line information that led me to a whole new medium of his haiku expression. I learned that Jeffrey Winke is an industrial writer and adjunct university professor of modern poetry, business communication and public speaking in Milwaukee, Wis. Moreover, I came upon his motion graphics haiku website, Chances, that has been selected as a Cool Site winner (http://www.bytestudios.com/winke/). It is a site that displays 11 haiku with shared themes of silence, night, death, rich beauty, and the fear of boredom while being heightened with the use of foreboding graphics and ominous background music. Through this medium, Winke combines kasen rengay themes with trendy technology for a perfect 21st century fit.
Another website I found had an example of Winke’s found art haiku- a process of taking any materials and visuals to combine with a haiku for a more relatable and modern interpretation.. Recently, a collection of Winke's essays combined with found art was exhibited at Milwaukee's Green Dragon Freedom Cafè gallery Found Art Example:
eyelash moon
the cobalt sky holds
her silence
(http://tinywords.com/haiku/2005/10/09/, October 9th, 2005)
I admire Jeffrey Winke’s haiku work for numerous reasons. He is not afraid to chronicle what moves him, his works are not complacently written about only the things the visual eye can detect, nor does he put up barriers for what readers can “handle”. I believe that along with his creative haiku, Winke is a successful artist, whether it be public speaking, teaching, or poetry, because he is constantly looking for fresh and new ways in which to create and present his work. Through technology he is able to adapt with new generations who seek art through different mediums, and he does not disappoint- at least not with this 19 year-old!
• • • Sources Referenced
"Found Art." What is Found Art? 2003. Artesian Design. 28 Apr. 2006 <http://www.found-art.com/how.php>.
Swede, George. Almost Unseen. Decatur, IL. Brooks Books: 2000
Winke, Jeffrey. "Chances." A Haiku Series. 2001. Lys Maruszewski. 28 Apr. 2006 <http://www.bytestudios.com/winke/>.
Winke, Jeffrey. "Tinywords." Fresh Haiku Delivered Daily. 09 Oct. 2005. 28 Apr. 2006 <http://tinywords.com/haiku/2005/10/09/>.
Winke, Jeffrey. What's Not There: Selected Haiku of Jeffrey Winke. Evanston, IL. Deep North Press: 2001. |
