Profile on Vincent Tripi

Contemporary Author Analysis: Vincent Tripi While I skimmed through my copy of the Haiku Anthology by Cor van de Heuvel, searching for an author for this study, my eyes fell upon this haiku: With me the same cloud       out of the covered bridge (227) I fell in love with the haiku instantaneously for its vivid imagery and emotion, and I knew I wanted its author to be the focus of my analysis. Unfortunately at the time, I discovered that Vincent Tripi would be a slightly more difficult writer to study. As Dr. Brooks told me, "Vincent Tripi tends to disappear in the woods for months at a time, and no one knows where he is." So while my classmates were having lengthy email conversations with their authors, I left mine to the forest and was forced to learn about him through his haiku and small biographical lines in a few of his books. However, this proved to be not as difficult of a task as what I imagined. Just as Tripi learns about life indirectly from time spent in nature and meditation, I learned about his unique transcendental style of writing haiku through his depictions of the everyday the beauties of nature, and the spirituality that connects humans with and all creatures. From this style, I was also able to learn a little about the author indirectly himself. In the four books I have read by Tripi, he gives only a few biographical statements. One sentence I believe sums up the author best: "Vincent Shankar Tripi keeps books by their color, has been known to hoard morels, and goes barefoot as much as he can" (Haiku Pond). Tripi has taught Yoga and meditation since 1980, and worked for 15 years with children in group-homes and residential treatment centers. In his 1997 book between God & the pine, Tripi stated he was living in San Francisco, California, but today he could be anywhere where trees and a pond exist. From what he has revealed of his age in Haiku Pond, he should be around 58 years old today. He lives a very spiritual lifestyle, reveling especially in the work of Henry David Thoreau. The transcendentalist movement in literature, which Tripi draws heavily on, was popularized by writers such as Thoreau that practiced transcendentalist ideals in their life and writing. Merriam Webster’s Encyclopedia of Literature defines transcendentalism as the belief in "the essential unity of all creation, the goodness of humankind, and the supremacy of insight over logic and experience for the revelation of the deepest truths" (1128). Clearly Tripi adheres to these beliefs in his writing. Almost all of his haiku have a feeling of unity between creatures, even between a cloud and human meeting again outside of a bridge. This transcendentalist style gives Tripi’s haiku a very spiritual feel, connecting the reader with a larger spiritual feeling in the world. For this reason his haiku are also provoke much emotion and feeling from readers. With me the same cloud       out of the covered bridge (Haiku Anthology 227) This opening haiku by Tripi is a wonderful example of his transcendental style. It gives us an image of a person going for a walk on a beautiful day, all alone except for one cloud in the sky. The cloud follows the walker, until he or she goes into a covered bridge, and the cloud disappears. However, when coming out of the covered bridge, there again is the cloud, like a faithful friend. Although the cloud may just be a suspended collection of water molecules, Tripi sees it as a creature tied even to a complex human being. He creates a bond between the walker and the cloud. Tripi also uses powerful imagery in this haiku, and imparts an emotion of happiness and calm. With the one cloud, we get a warm feeling of the blue sky surrounding us. Everything feels perfectly in its place in the universe, and life seems simple on a day for a walk. The haiku is also very effective with its structure placed in one line. Usually haiku with one line do not appeal to me as much as others, but the structure of this one helps to reinforce its unique image. It portrays a linear movement, walking across a bridge, and in the moment without the cloud while the narrator is under the bridge, there is a space, then words appear out of the bridge again. Here is another haiku by Tripi that uses strong imagery as well: White lilac scent—     the dollhouse at the window         with its window open (Haiku Anthology 226) As a little girl I had a dollhouse that I adored, and whatever was going on in the world for me went on in the dollhouse. At Christmas time, I decorated it with Christmas lights and in the summer I put flowers in the window. Although my dollhouse did not have opening windows, I know that in the summer I would have opened its windows too. The scent of white lilacs gives a sense of the purity of the smell, and it is so strong it fills the room and the rooms in the dollhouse as well. Again Tripi reveals the transcendentalist in himself through this haiku; the white lilac outside the real house window touches the creatures in the dollhouse as well. Tripi shows us that even little dolls have a link to the world. This haiku is so full childlike wonder and purity that it is easy to fall in love with, as being human, we all remember childhood experiences. Left open wide     at the centre         the butterfly book (Haiku Anthology 226) For me, this haiku has a lot of childlike images in it. In my mind, I see a child with a large, cardboard book filled of pictures of butterflies. It is one of the educational series books that help teach children about different creatures. Butterflies are so rich and colorful in themselves that just the word "butterfly" fills the imagination with rich, vivid images. I see the book on a table, left open at the center that a child has left to go play outside. The reader also gets the feeling of spring and warmth in this haiku, again from the image butterflies which only live in warm weather. The cardboard book’s picture ties a living creature merely tucked into pages to a room, perhaps a classroom or a bedroom, where it sits open wide and brings joy to its surroundings in its rich color and vitality. Here again is Tripi’s use of nature being tied to our lives, by demonstrating the exuberance that butterflies brings us even in a picture in a book. Winter evening—     grandma's recipe for bread         among my poems (Global Haiku 89) Tripi sometimes calls himself a "haiku poet," and in his book Haiku Pond he slips poetry in with his haiku. As an occasional poetry writer this haiku touches me also, for at times when I am cleaning out old boxes stuffed with poetry I find something like an old recipe or phone number scattered in with it. Tripi uses not just any recipe, though, it is grandma’s bread recipe, which may surpass any of the greatest poems in artistic worth. It fills us with the smell of warm, homemade bread, and the warmth of an evening at grandma’s. This imagery that a simple recipe can evoke may be richer than the imagery in any poem. A recipe of grandma’s also has much value to us, as a symbol of her, and often as writer poems or haiku are a symbol for us. The transcendental idea of one universal connection again touches us in this haiku, for the connection between grandma as a baker and the narrator as a writer is strong; both are artists in the eyes of the reader. Everything fits in perfectly with everything else. Snow again     in my cabin somehow         knowing it is Christmas (Global Haiku 89) This haiku particularly reminds me of Thoreau’s Walden and the transcendental writers. I can so clearly see Tripi waking in his cabin for the third month or so alone, looking out the little window at the morning snow. Without any calendar or clock he has no idea what day it really is, but in the certain glimmer of the new snow and the fresh chill in the air, he just knows that it is Christmas. Nature in its universal ties to our lives reveals to us when our sacred holiday is, in a form more spiritual and pure than any red bow or string of lights. With this haiku, Tripi truly reveals his transcendental side and his admiration for Thoreau. The turtle’s plash     just around the corner         a river Baptism (Global Haiku 89) This haiku is very transcendental in its parallel of an animal’s daily routine and a human religious practice. In the turtles submergence to the water, the human is submerged as well, and both seem to be sharing the same moment of spiritual fulfillment. We can easily imagine the turtle slowly splashing into the water, and then the minister and woman or man being baptized dunked underwater. The river is a sacred place for both the human and the turtle; for the turtle, as its home, and for the human as its holy site. The bind between nature and human is strong and paralleled again in this haiku. Beside the waterfall… opening with all its blue the bellflower (between God & the pine 18) This haiku is so rich in imagery with color and the coolness of spring. The majestic waterfall in itself is such a full image, with the loud sound of splashing water, the smell of fresh water, and the deep blue and white currents that are splashing down the rocks. Beside the powerful, gigantic force of nature is a single, tiny bellflower growing wild, probably nurtured from the spraying water of the waterfall, and majestic also in its proud, open display of its vibrant blue. Although the bellflower may be only a tiny speck compared to the huge blue waterfall, it is still as beautiful and mighty in its full effort and proudest display for nature. The tiny flower and the waterfall side by side are equally tied to the Earth, and yet again we see Tripi’s transcendental use of a bind for all things. Waving back     at the poppy fields         the retarded child (between God & the pine 32) This haiku has a lot of innocence in it, for the retarded child thinks that the poppies are waving goodbye to her as she leaves them. Although I have to admit that I do not like the word "retarded," and I think it is a little strong for a haiku, it really does make the haiku much better to have the child be mentally handicapped, because mentally handicapped children are so much more innocent than others. They take delight in the wonders of the world that other children would not for "logical" reasons. Another child would know that poppies do not wave, but because this child is slower and not as logical, she can believe that as she leaves a field of rich, colorful poppies, she looks back and sees a field of play friends. Tripi puts us in touch with a part of ourselves that we often ignore, but that this child is fully conscious of with this haiku. We do not see flowers really as living creatures, but in fact they are. For a friendless child, they can be the greatest companions with their warm, inviting colors. Finally, we also see the transcendental binding, for humans and flowers really can be great companions. Tripi has numerous collections of haiku, and almost all that I have read in some way relate a feeling of belonging in the universe. He also focuses on the pleasant sides of people, with the innocence of the retarded child, the person at the river being baptized, and the poet reveling in grandma’s bread recipe. In this way, he borrows the transcendental feeling of inherent goodness in all people. Also, he uses the transcendental idea of intuition over logic in almost all of his haiku: the child who believes the poppies are waving back, the walker who enjoys taking a walk with a cloud, and a turtle sharing his part in a baptism ceremony. All of these notions are not logical, for a turtle "logically" would have no idea what a baptism is, and a child "logically" would know that poppies do not really wave to us. Much haiku I have read relishes this concept of the intuitive over the logical, for when we are logical we block out the simple parts of the world that are going on around us. In his transcendental images and emotions, Tripi shows the joy we share in our ties to the universe with other creatures. When an author can acknowledge the simple details in life, such as a cloud up in the sky, or a playful poppy, then her haiku becomes so much more vibrant and full of life. This, I believe, is Tripi’s greatest element as a haiku writer. Bibliography of books examined in this study: Tripi, Vincent. between God & the pine. 1997. Tripi, Vincent. Haiku Pond. San Francisco: Vide Press, 1987. Tripi, Vincent. …the path of the bird. Wisconsin: Hummingbird Press, 1996. Tripi, Vincent. somewhere among the clouds. 1999. Other books by Tripi (not examined for this study): On My Mind Snow Falling on Snow Parallels Raking Sound The Butterfly’s Weight white tribe Bibliography Global Haiku. Ed. Randy Brooks and George Swede. The Haiku Anthology. Ed. Cor van de Heuvel. New York: Norton, 1999. Merriam Webster’s Encyclopedia of English Literature. Springfield, Merriam-Webster, 1995. —Kay Millikin