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Where to Throw the Water: the Humor of Dee Evetts
by Nicole Zabrinas
There is always something that inspires someone to begin writing haiku or any other type of literature. For Dee Evetts, it was the following translation of a haiku by Onitsura:
There is no place
to throw the dirty bathwater.
Insect cries!
(Onitsura, Endgrain, introduction)
Evetts particularly enjoyed this haiku because of the subject. He was shocked that the subject of the poem was “dirty bathwater,” but the poem still had meaning to it. He also recognized how much meaning was contained in just three lines. This began Evetts’s journey to haiku in which he developed his own ideas of what should be in a haiku. He started some of his own haiku attempts, but was still only reading translations of Japanese writers. After discovering the world of English-language haiku and the power behind it, he began developing his own style.
From reading Evetts’s book Endgrain, I learned that one of the styles that Dee Evetts is known for is senryu. His haiku are focused on humans and their experiences. Also, many of them are meant to be humorous. Most of Evetts’s haiku involve humans. They focus on human experiences that are simple, common, and universal. The scenes or emotion described in each poem are very recognizable by the average human of Western culture. Many of them are about insignificant human moments that people don’t think about regularly, but when someone reads them, he recognizes the situation described in the haiku, he can relate. The reaction to most of Evetts’s haiku is a laugh or a smile. This reaction represents an understanding between the author and the reader. Humans have an easy time understanding the moment in the haiku or the underlying emotion. Because Evetts’s haiku are usually human related, there is a special connection between the reader and the haiku that doesn’t always exist in nature related haiku. Because of the humor and the reference to human experience and emotion, Evetts’s haiku are very understandable and relatable for the many readers he draws in.
Evetts’s believes that haiku should be assessed the same way that all other genres of literature are assessed. This includes its “aptness, wit, accuracy, felicity of language, and its lack of sentimentality and moralizing” (Evetts, introduction). Even though haiku is always changing, Evetts believes that these criteria will always apply. When it comes to Evetts’s work, he has a very smart way of writing haiku. He gives just enough of a moment for one to recognize what is happening. He makes his readers laugh and smile even if it is a darker situation, a common gender stab, or just a common awkward experience that most people never address. By analyzing some of his haiku, we will see where he pulls the humor for each poem. We will also recognize what makes each haiku so relatable to human life, experience, and emotion.
under the trees
a sudden shower
yesterday’s rain
(Evetts, E, pg 4)
In this particular haiku, it is a scene observed in nature, however, it is from a human perspective. It is not uncommon for a person to be showered in water that remained on the leaves of a tree after it rained. The situation described in the haiku is a common experience that many people have shared. Here, Evetts takes this moment and fits it into three lines. Just from this haiku, one ca visualize the water coming down from the trees, feel the cool, unexpected drops, and hear the sound of the drops falling as the wind shakes them out of the tree. The haiku really pulls at the human senses and allows for recognition of human experience.
with a flourish
the waitress leaves behind
rearranged smears
(Evetts, E, pg 7)
In this haiku, Evetts uses a human as the subject of the poem. However, I believe the perspective is from someone observing the waitress. The observer notices the waitress cleaning off a table and then attempting to wipe away the smears. However, once she walks away, the observer realized that she did an incomplete job wiping down the table. I like the use of the word “rearranged” because it implies that she tried to clean off the table, but really she just smeared around the mess that was already there. This is a common insignificant experience that most people have encountered. It is easy to understand the implications of the word “rearranged” because the poem describes such a common situation. Also, because it is so easy for people to relate to, it elicits a smile or even just a visual because everyone has been there or done that.
unexpected news
she stands staring into
the cutlery drawer
(Evetts, E, pg 13)
In this haiku, the situation helps us define the tone or emotion behind the poem. The first line states “unexpected news,” but the haiku never says whether or not it is good news or bad news. Because of the next moment or visual description in the poem, a woman staring into a cutlery drawer, it is implied that the news is bad news. This is because cutlery is such a sharp word and the objects within a cutlery drawer are also sharp. Whatever this news is, the subject of the poem, the woman, must be thinking heavily about the news and trying to digest it. I think that if the news was good news, there wouldn’t be a lack of movement from the woman. I think the idea of her standing over the drawer and staring in, and the stillness that is perceived suggests bad news. Also, I think that a sort of dark humor is used here, implying that she is thinking about using one of the knives in the drawer, however I don’t think it implies that she would actually consider using one of the items in the drawer as a weapon.
loud applause
for the last speech
before lunch
(Evetts, E, pg 17)
I found this particular haiku to be very humorous. However, the humorous aspect doesn’t come in until the last line. It suggests that the crowd is clapping because they are relieved that it is finally lunchtime and not because of how good the speech was. Because I’m sure that almost everyone can relate to a situation similar to this one, the haiku is considered humorous. One can imagine being in a group of people who are anticipating the end of a speech because it is lunchtime. Once the speaker gives his or her final thank you, the crowd erupts from the build-up of anticipation and the release of it when they are relieved for lunch. Other people being able to relate to this situation is what elicits the humor.
however close
we push the beds together
the gap between us
(Evetts, E, 18)
This particular haiku, I feel, uses the human emotion of frustration. The situation described is insignificant, but again, something that many people can relate to. The frustration is sensed because the two people whose perspective this haiku is from are trying to sleep next to another by pushing the beds together, but the gap wont go away. The visual picture of the frustrated couple is very apparent. I think the reader can assume that it is a couple that has romantic ties because of the idea of closeness. Overall, I don’t find any humor in this haiku, but I think the reader can relate to the situation because once again, it is related to human experience and emotion.
careful movements
making a business call
from the bathtub
(Evetts, E, pg 23)
This haiku was meant to be humorous. The situation is a human experience, which makes it relatable to the reader. Many people have tried making phone calls in the bathtub so they understand the difficulties of trying to accomplish this task. Also, in many modern movies, characters are on their phones in romantic situations and therefore a bathtub phone call may be associated with romance. Because in this haiku, the bathtub phone call is of important business, it brings in humor. There are so many things that could go wrong from making a phone call while in the bath tub and by reading this haiku, many readers would imagine a “bathtub business phone call gone wrong,” especially because the haiku mentions “careful movements.” I know I laughed when I imagined the situation that this haiku implies, and I’m sure many other people would get the same ideas and share in the humor.
taking out garbage
his face at the window
for the touchdown
(Evetts, E, 37)
This haiku is humorous because it takes a stab at typical male behavior. Almost every female could imagine asking a man to take out the garbage during a football game and see him throw a fit. After enough nagging, he finally gets up to take out the trash, but as he is walking past the neighbor’s house on the way to the curb, he notices the game is on in their living room. He notices the game is getting intense and runs up his neighbor’s window just in time for the touchdown. This situation may sound ridiculous, but it is what can be implied from Evetts’s haiku. It is humorous because it is something that all people can relate to and expect from a man. When put into a three-line poem, it requires the reader to think and imagine the situation as to depict a better understanding of the situation. Once the reader realizes what it is referring to, it becomes humorous because he or she could see that happening in real life. The fact that it is making fun of males’ dedication to watching sports makes it a very humorous haiku.
All of the haiku mentioned above have references to human experiences or human emotion. It is this connection that elicits the humor in the haiku that are meant for human. If people couldn’t relate their own lives to the situations presented in the haiku, then they wouldn’t find any reason for them to be funny. Dee Evetts has a way of finding those simple, possibly insignificant, human moments that when pointed out through a three-line poem, are particularly humorous. Another haiku author who has a similar writing style and uses human situations and emotions in many of his haiku is George Swede.
Here are two haiku, one by Dee Evetts, and one by George Swede:
last grandchild
asks if she remembers
the dinosaurs
(Evetts, E, pg 10)
stepping on
sidewalk ants the boy
everyone bullies
(Swede, AU, pg 28)
I chose to compare these two haiku because they both use children and are therefore in a child’s mindset. I think the differences between the two haiku really show the differences between the authors’ writing even though senryu is very common for both of them. Because Dee Evetts is considered to be a “celebratory” author, his haiku has a happier tone to it and is meant to bring a smile to the reader’s face. His haiku refers to the innocence and naivety of a young child. The child doesn’t mean to be insulting, and if an adult were to ask the same question, it would be considered an insult. The haiku is humorous because it refers to one of those cute, but serious questions that young children ask, but seem ridiculously funny to adults. In George Swede’s haiku, he is referring to the sadness, frustration, or even depression of a young child. The poem has a sadder, darker tone to it and is not meant to be funny, but serious. The reader feels sorry for the boy who is taking out his frustration and fears on innocent ants because of the experiences he has to go through with bullying at school. The difference between the authors’ tones in these two haiku is tremendous, but they are both very good haiku and accomplish the tone and emotion that they are meant to convey.
Overall, Dee Evetts has a pretty distinct way of writing haiku. I particularly like his haiku because of his humorous references to common human experiences and situations. Because of this style, his writing stuck out to me and made me want to read more of his work. In the end, Dee Evetts writes very smart haiku that can be enjoyed by a wide variety of people.
Works Cited
Evetts, Dee. Endgrain. Winchester, Virginia: Red Moon Press. 1997.
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