Candace Golden • Candace's Haiku •

Haiku of Alan Gettis: Complex Human Moments Alan Gettis is a unique haiku writer. His work often evokes powerful images that are incredibly different than some of his fellow haiku writers. After reading some of his work, I was quickly fascinated with his style and content. Gettis seems to pick a moment that is thoroughly complex and define it using only a handful of words. Most of Gettis’s works are senryu. In comparison with other haiku writers, Gettis’s haiku are very rich and complex. His haiku often deal with sad or hard to handle situations. For example, his haiku about a beggar boy is unlike any haiku I had ever read before. There is no color or smell in it, and very little sound. Despite this, his haiku is indeed quite powerful. Delhi train station; an armless beggar boy picks up coin with foot This is a very sad senryu and extremely powerful at the same time. I get a strong image of an empty train station with a boy in the corner. This boy spots a coin and walks over to retrieve it. Very naturally, he extends his foot and carefully picks up the coin with his toes. After doing so, he walks back to his corner satisfied that he found his coin. I think it is sad because he has become so accustomed to surviving like this. The image of the armless beggar boy picking up change with his foot conveys the suchness principal of Zen. Gettis isn’t showing the audience an opinion about this boy. He just depicts an image of an unfortunate boy that endures a hard life, but manages to survive. Throughout my life, I have never seen anything like this, and Gettis’s image sends shivers down my spine. My heart goes out to this boy. Another haiku that invokes the same kinds of feelings is one about a breast-feeding mother who also asks for handouts. bordertown: breastfeeding mother asks for a handout The last line of this haiku is very ironic. The first two lines of the haiku seem to give the impression that this mother is capable of not only taking care of herself, but also her child. After reading the last line, you realize she can’t. It makes me wonder what will happen to the child when its own mother can’t take care of herself. Again, this is content that I would never guessed I would be reading about in a haiku. This haiku demonstrates wordless, suchness, and selflessness. This haiku is short and to the point. The image is of a mother taking care of a child, while asking society to take care of her. I also think it is selfless because there is no approval/disapproval in the haiku. Something could have been added to the haiku to add personal reflection or feelings about this mother, but he doesn’t add it. One of my favorites because it evokes such a powerful image dealing with unusual content. Another haiku that deals with another heavy subject are his haiku about the lepers. Gettis has published a few haiku that deal with lepers and their environments. Not only do they depict their environment but also some show how others react to them. eyeing the lepers the old shepherd sings loudly to his goats a line of lepers— the evening rain filling their begging bowls As you can see, both of these haiku are not light in content. The first few lines of the first haiku makes one think he is singing to them, perhaps to comfort them. Then after reading the last line, it seems that the shepherd is singing to himself trying to comfort himself. He wants to act normal around the group of lepers but the only way he can think to is by preoccupying himself is to seem like he is singing to his goats. The second haiku is also sad. Not only are there a line of lepers that are hungry and have no where to go, but it is also raining. After reading this haiku, I couldn’t help to think, “what else could go wrong?” Even though this haiku is sad, I do like the sound of the rain hitting the begging bowls. I also like the image of the dark sky added to the haiku. The fact that it is night, it’s raining, and they are lepers make this a truly dark haiku. However, not all of Gettis’ haiku are as deep as these two examples. Even though all of his haiku have a deeper meaning, not all of them address the hierarchical structure of society. One of his haiku that is a bit lighter deals with children’s belief between what is real and what isn’t. two Santa Clauses on one street corner— the confused children I like this haiku because the content is light and funny, but the last line presents that the situation can go much deeper and more complex. For example, I can see the children walking home on a New York City sidewalk at a stoplight waiting to cross the street. I can see it at night after it is dark, with a little bit of snow falling on the freshly shoveled sidewalks. One child sees the Santas on the other side of the street waiting also to cross. With huge eyes, he looks at his sister who is also confused. Later that night, I can see the difficulties of the parents deciding whether or not to tell the children if there really is a Santa Clause and possibly ruin Christmas before Christmas even happens. Dealing with the difference between story/fantasy and reality is a complex issue that Gettis seemed to grasp as he wrote his haiku. Some of his other work use more seasonal words, but they are still all senryu. Many of them deal with the closeness between two people while the weather outside gives juxtaposition. For instance, the haiku about two people lying together watching the snow fall gives an example of this. in our nakedness watching the snow falling on the snow I really like the temperatures of this haiku. It is cold outside because it is snowing but we know it has been snowing for a while because of the last line of the haiku. However, it is warm inside because they are lying together naked. I like the sense the couple lying on each other compared to the snow lying/falling on snow. I like this one because it isn’t quite as complex as some of his others but it still gives a nice image and feeling. Another similar haiku is one about a lover unbraiding his lover’s hair. snowed in: unfastening her braid The closeness of the couple really makes me like this haiku. I really like it because it seems to be so intimate. I like that he is unfastening her braid, it is almost as he is the one that is being the more sensual of the two. He seems to be taking him time, stroking her hair and being gentle with her. He has no reason to rush because they are snowed in. Therefore, they don’t have to go anywhere and no one can come to visit them. It seems like they have all the time in the world to do nothing but be together. the look in her eyes as she reaches to unbutton my shirt I like this haiku because it is similar to the “snowed in” haiku because of it’s sensuality. Stereotypically, it is women who write about passionate love and about the sensual connection between lovers. After reading this haiku I felt like this was Gettis haiku about love. I think this look that she has is one of the reasons he fell in love with her. It seems to me, that her look has a look of confidence but she is still sweet and timid. She wants him and he knows it by this look she gives. I see this look between lovers who have grown together over time not a one-night stand. I see it as a depiction of love. As you can see, Alan Gettis writes about a variety of topics. Even thought he focuses on a variety of topics he pays attention to the quirks in human nature. He can pick a very complex, powerful, and sad scene and turn it into a haiku. Just as Gettis can pick an afternoon between lovers and show the beauty and the closeness between them. Unlike many other haiku writers, Gettis seems to pick out interesting and unusual moments that occur in life. —Candace Golden All haiku cited are from the following collections: Gettis, Alan. Snowed In. Battle Ground, IN: High/Coo Press, 1978. Mini-chapbook 4. Gettis, Alan. Sun-Faced Haiku Moon-Faced Haiku, 1. Battle Ground, IN: High/Coo Press, 1982. Gettis, Alan. Sun-Faced Haiku Moon-Faced Haiku, 2. Battle Ground, IN: High/Coo Press, 1982.