Sarah Bassill • Sarah's Haiku •

James W. Hackett's Haiku: A Mirror Held Up to Nature According to haiku author, James W. Hackett, "of all poetry, haiku is the one which best holds a mirror up to nature." This statement holds true to all of James Hackett's work. He writes about his everyday experience that he notices in his garden and the places he visits. The haiku reveal the wonders of natural creation and capture the present moment with only 17 syllables. Hackett writes haiku in his native English language, because he does not want to imitate Japanese haiku nor does he want to take away the spiritual qualities he felt when writing the haiku. A life-threatening injury proved to be an epiphany which led James to intensive meditation and the study of Zen. He immersed himself in the writings of Zen philosopher D.T. Suzuki and studied R.H. Blyth's works on Oriental culture and the art of haiku poetry. With the help of haiku scholar Harold G. Henderson and mentor R.H. Blythe, James began writing haiku in the 1950's. Since then, James believes that lifefulness is the real quality of haiku -not beauty, and haiku is more than poetry; it is living awareness and improves our life experience. R.H. Blyth writes in the Foreword of James Hackett's, Haiku Poetry , that James does not use the "best words", but the right words that make his haiku so remarkable. James Hackett made the rules of Japanese haiku very clear to his readers. In the first four volumes of haiku written by James, he included "suggestions for writing haiku in English. These suggestions include 17 very specific rules to help one write haiku with the similar style of James Hackett. A lot of these "suggestions" are the very basis of Hackett's haiku. Suggestion number one states: "the present is the touchstone of the haiku experience, so always be aware of this present moment." A loud whisper: "If you don't have to go potty-- stop dancing around!" J.W. Hackett, H.P. V.2, pg.40 James Hackett believes in living solely in the present and to connect with nature, which relates to suggestion number four, "Interpenetrate with nature. Allow subjects to express their life through you." Though things only seem, I suffer with the butterfly, tearing in this web. James Hackett, H.P. V.4, pg. 49 Another suggestion that describes James Hackett's haiku is suggestion number 14: "Never use obscure allusions: real haiku are intuitive, not abstract or intellectual." Waterfall pool... Watching a last shaft of sun Collect rainbows. James W. Hackett, A.T.H., pg. 41 I think James does a good job following his own suggestions of haiku and he really is able to capture beautiful moments in life that might be overlooked by his haiku. I read some of James W. Hackett's work including Haiku Poetry Volume 1-4 , and A Traveler's Haiku . I noticed a few strange and interesting things about James as I read his books. One of them was that out of the five books I read James wrote his name three different ways. Haiku Poetry Volume one and two , which were published in 1964 and 1966, he called himself J.W. Hackett. On Haiku Poetry Volume three and four , which were published in 1966 and 1968 he called himself James Hackett, and on A Traveler's Haiku , published in 2004, he decided to go with James W. Hackett. I am not exactly sure why he made so many variations on his name, but perhaps each name was a different stage of his life. In the first two volumes of haiku he focuses on loneliness, life vs. death, birds and bugs. One insect in particular that I noticed James liked to write about were spiders. By the third and fourth volume of haiku James started to incorporate people into his haiku and had a series of haiku about a child. By the fifth work, which is the most recent, A Traveler's Haiku , James wrote about all the places around the world that he explored and observed. I imagine that his as his identity evolved, so did his work. The haiku in A Traveler's Haiku are much more diverse than in the Haiku Poetry I read. One unusual topic that I discovered while reading the entire Haiku Poetry collection was that James liked to talk about poop. I thought this topic was bizarre to mention more than once in over four volumes of haiku, but it does truly capture nature in the simplest way; which was what Hackett's style of haiku is aiming for. For example: Ceasing his sweet song the woodpecker takes a poop, and then sings again. J.W. Hackett, Haiku Poetry v.1, pg. 26 This haiku truly captures nature in all her beauty. I can imagine being out in the middle of the forest watching this woodpecker and thinking how beautiful the moment is only to be surprised by a natural body function. I also find this haiku humorous because I can imagine a man listening to the song of the woodpecker and when the bird stops, the man opens his eyes to see why the woodpecker has stopped singing. It as at that very moment when the woodpecker poops that the man opens his eyes and is surprised and the woodpecker, not knowing any better, goes on singing the song. One thing James really emphasized in his preface, located in all four volumes of Haiku Poetry was to live in the moment as if it was your last. He felt very strongly about connecting with nature and reveling the wonders of natural creation- like bodily functions of animals. I believe that the woodpecker haiku sums up the spirit behind most haiku James Hackett writes. One very interesting thing that I discovered about James Hackett's haiku when I was reading a selection of his work was that in almost every book I read he relates drops of dew to amber jewels: In the dome shadow cast by every drops of dew: a burning jewel. J.W. Hackett, H.P. v.2, pg 30 A mountain sunrise... Poised on every pine needle, An amber jewel. J.W. Hackett, H.P. v.2, pg 61 Ladybug, you turn Every dew you pass into An amber jewel. James Hackett, H.P. v.4, pg.5 'Dew no longer gems' the old Roshi once told me. true now-and yet... James W. Hackett, A.T.H, pg. 37 What is so interesting about these haiku is that they all talk about the same subject. By the fourth mention of the 'Dew no longer gems', James is much older now with more knowledge about nature and haiku. The fourth reference comes from A Traveler's Haiku . At the end of this book in the "about the author" section, it states that James explored the roots of Japan where he was the guest of noted Zen Roshi. Hackett refers to Roshi in his haiku and I have a feeling that James shared his work wtih Zen Roshi and they had a long discussion about Hackett's vision drops of dew. I see much tension in the last haiku because I feel that Hackett really feels that drops of dew are amber jewels. I believe that he feels strongly about this because he refers to this subject many times throughout his work from the first book published to his most recent. I know that James has much respect for Zen Roshi but feel that he disagrees with what Roshi is saying. I interpret the line "true now-and yet..." to mean, James will please the old Roshi by agreeing with him at the present moment, however, when he sees a drop of dew he will still connect it to an amber jewel, and even the wise words of Zen Roshi will not change that feeling. While James Hackett looks up to Zen Roshi and other Japanese haiku writers, James himself is very well known and respected in Japan for his own haiku. He received international recognition in 1964 by winning JAL's first American Haiku contest with his haiku: A bitter morning: sparrows sitting together without any necks. J.W. Hackett, H.P. V.1, pg. 12 When reading Hackett's haiku this was actually one of my favorite that I read, and when I read a later book of his, I found out that the 'bitter morning' haiku had won an award. I also found out that since 1990 the British Haiku Society has offered the annual James Hackett international haiku award. Throughout his career James has been able to establish himself as a very credible Japanese haiku writer. When I first started to read the haiku of James Hackett I felt that he overused topics and words from previous haiku. Sometimes I would like the idea he had going with his haiku but thought it was too wordy. Other times I would read about a place and find five other haiku that mentioned the same exact thing. For instance, James used to live in the mountains of Santa Cruz in central California so he would write many haiku about the mountains: A single cricket warms the quiet of this lonely mountain night. J.W. Hackett, H.P. V.1, pg. 24 However, the more I read about James Hackett and his rules of writing Japanese haiku the more I appreciated his haiku. It took me awhile to really understand the wonderful ability to live in the moment of his haiku and the simple nature of his life experiences. The more I learned about James Hackett the more his haiku meant because I was able to connect his life to the moments of his haiku and it was then that they became very real. I truly believe you have to read James Hackett's haiku before you can truly open your eyes to appreciate the simple moments life has to offer. And as James Hackett's 17 th suggestion for writing haiku states, " Remember that haiku is a finger pointing at the moon, and if the hand is bejeweled, we no longer see that to which it points..."