Mike Knowles • Mike's Haiku •

Alan Pizzarelli's Haiku: The Dark Side of a Prankster Alan Pizzarelli is typically known for his humorous prankster approach to writing and performing haiku. While studying him and reading his works I realized that he does have a very lighthearted effect in most of his haiku. With further investigation, one can see that haiku isn't simply a vehicle for puns and jokes for Mr. Pizzarelli, but he can also offer a more serious and dark approach to the art. In Karma Poems there seems to be an overall melancholy touching all of the haiku, while in Zenryu and other works the haiku seem to deal more with the sensual physicality of human existence. While Pizzarelli's trademark wit permeate the collections, there is more proffered by the author than simple fart jokes.   Karma Poems had a number of really good haiku that I responded to. Despite my initial response to Karma Poems I found it in constant conflict with what I originally heard about Pizzarelli's humor. He opens the collection with a work about a junkie and moves on to haiku about cold rain, graveyards, and a lack of inspiration. There are however funny and clever haiku throughout the collection. My favorite from the collection is:   Sunrise An old woman Picking mushrooms   This haiku seems to encapsulate the entire collection because despite the fact that there is brightness and freshness to the haiku, there is also a deep sadness. Even the old woman is feeding off the mushrooms, which come from decay.     Now even colder With the wind Winter rain   The sense of cold and desperation of the character from being left to nature is overpowering. There is an emptiness of emotion and thought that can only be filled up with the driving wind and bitter cold this voice is enduring. There is a sense of a vague loss and tremendous loneliness to this haiku, which made it stand out to me. Towards the end of Karma Poems the mood seems to lighten though there is still the sense of defeatism in other haiku.     Waiting   For a train He looks up Splat   I can only imagine what's making the "splat" noise in this haiku; whatever it is it cannot be pleasant. I have felt, at times, that life, the universe, and everything is working against me. That's the reason I've identified with these haiku. There's a sense of defeat but also an ability to laugh about it because of the way the haiku is written.   Scraping his shoe On the curb . . The passing parade Again, the sense of physical distress is present, but it's really funny because the phantom shoe muck is never defined and this frustrated character is lost in the chaos of the local small town parade. I really liked these haiku because they maintained the angst of the former works, but also introduced some of Pizzarelli's humor. These haiku are able to satisfy the assumption that Pizzarelli is a jokester and that he's also dealing with other, more heavy emotions. Pizzarelli is also capable of rendering very interesting physical moments with haiku. Some of the simplest works offer the most complicated relations. There is sensuality to some of the haiku along with a type of vulgarity and wit. Out of all of Pizzarelli's work I responded to these the most. Zenryu and other works contained most of the interesting bodily haiku.   Drunk Pissing Missing We've all been here before; so unbelievably wasted that you can't even stand up right. Being a college student I identified with this one rather quickly. It reminds me of countless weekends when I either forget my limit or ignore it just to get unabashedly trashed and feel terrible the next morning. Again, there is a bit of vulgarity to this haiku, but a wonderful sense of humor due to its sparseness, rhyming of pissing and missing, and all the connections that are able to come from such a simple haiku.   Licking her clit          She shudders Glowing   This haiku maintains a level of erotic vulgarity that is absent in most of Pizzarelli's work. The humor seems to be stripped away to reveal candidness. The erotic sensations of the haiku are almost eclipsed by the slang "clit", most often used in less than romantic situations. There is a balance between the sensual and the sexual that I haven't found in his other haiku.   Porno Movies   The girl          Loosen's her bra Starts peeling off panties          Darkens                   25c This haiku can be found in a Silver hubcap . This haiku makes me feel slimy; like I'm doing and seeing things I shouldn't be watching but I am and I want to. There is a kind of desperation to the characters in this haiku; it's vacant of any humor. I feel like I'm in a seedy bar in a back alley, looking at some girl with a meth addiction moving her bony body around taking off her clothes. This shouldn't turn me on but it does and I drop another quarter so I can stare at her for another minute.   Despite the fact that Pizzarelli can write a damned funny haiku he's not a one trick pony. Pizzarelli offers a sense of sadness, sensuality, and eroticism that ultimately is tied together and made accessible with an ability to laugh at any situation. Promoting him on the point that he is a good prankster is selling him short. Pizzarelli can offer the whole gamut of human emotion, he's just capable of laughing at all of it.