Matsuo Allard's
One-lined Haiku
Matsuo Allard, also known as R. Clarence Matsuo Allard, was
born December 15, 1949 in New Hampshire where he still resides.
(Heuvel 337) Although he had been very active, he has not
had any new works published in years. His final book that
was published was Bird Day Afternoon
and that was in 1978. Because he has remained silent for so
many years, there is not much information to be easily found
on him and his work. Unfortunately, in my study of his work,
I was not able to find a listing of his total publications
but the works that I did find were very exciting.
When one first learns about haiku in grade school, the strict
guidelines are drilled into one’s mind. They must be
three lines. They must have a certain number of syllables
in each of those lines. Several haiku writers, however, have
sought to break through these guidelines so that the art of
haiku can reach more and more people. Matsuo Allard is one
of those artists.
Matsuo Allard’s strongest contribution to the contemporary
haiku world is his push for the one-line haiku. Fourteen out
of the thirty-six haiku in Bird Day
Afternoon are strictly one-line haiku. Because of the
vast number of one-line haiku in this collection, it is very
obvious that Allard believed that this form of haiku was a
very important one.
The following haiku by Matsuo Allard to be discussed are
from the third edition of The Haiku
Anthology:
an icicle the moon drifting through it
This haiku is my favorite by Allard. The visual images described
in these few words are simply beautiful. I imagine an icicle
hanging off of the porch of a house. The night is clear and
crisp. While gazing at this icicle one notices that the moon
is visible through the clear icy point of the icicle. The
moon would be slightly distorted since it is being viewed
through the icicle, but the image of the dark sky and the
bright moon in the icicle would be a stunning one.
Perhaps, the icicle is hanging from a tree instead of a porch.
If this is the case, this haiku is a delightful description
of mother nature at some of her finest. The light of the moon
would light the icicle ever-so-slightly so that it would seem
to be almost glowing on it’s own accord. Of course, it
could not really glow on it’s own but the image would
be incredibly peaceful and beautiful.
snow by the window paper flowers gathering
dust
I had two very different readings of this haiku. The first
one is a more uplifting image. Since the winter has yet to
come to an end, a teacher has decided to bring a little spring
into the classroom by having the young students make paper
flowers for their parents. This grouping of paper flowers
discussed in the haiku are a grouping of brightness and joy
that will bring happiness to the parents for years to come.
The second reading is not quite as uplifting. The paper flowers
are faded and torn. The years have come and gone. And yet,
the parents still cling to the years when their children still
depended on them for everything. The years have come and gone
so quickly and now the kids are off living their own lives.
They are no longer making presents for mom and dad at school.
Now, they are probably worrying about term papers and after-school
jobs. The years of paper flowers are gone but the parents
will cling to these faded memories.
the silence a droplet of water trickles
down a stone
This is a very tranquil haiku. The image is that of serenity
and peacefulness. From this haiku, I envision the image of
a cool stream. No man has destroyed the glory of this very
natural scene. The only disturbance in the path of the stream
is the stone that has disrupted the path of the stream. However,
this disruption is easily conquered as the stream finds that
it can easily pass around and if necessary, above this small
stone.
Another reading for this haiku is that the silence is the
silence that comes right before a storm. All of the animals
seem to know that there is a big storm coming so they have
all gone to seek shelter. The only thing that disrupts this
silence is the first drop of rain as it hits a stone. Of course,
there will soon be many more drops falling, but at this point
this lone drop is the only true sign of the impending storm.
alone tonight one fish ripples the lake
The image throughout this haiku is that of peacefulness and
serenity. This haiku could be read in two different ways,
in my opinion. In the first reading, there is just one person
at the lake. They are sitting alone, having some time to themselves.
The lone fish that ripples the water of the lake is the only
company that this person has. That lone fish is probably the
only company that this person desires at this moment in time.
In the second reading, it is the fish who is alone. There
are no other animals out tonight. This one fish is the only
one that has come out to play. All of the other animals have
stayed away from sight this evening. The following haiku by
Matsuo Allard to be discussed are from Bird
Day Afternoon:
all these sounds not one of them a falling
leaf
All is not necessarily peaceful in the image of this haiku.
We are surrounded by noises. These noises are that of passing
cars, construction, laughter, crying, sirens, birds, dogs
and cats. But the author longs for the "sounds of peacefulness".
These sounds of peacefulness would be the sounds of nature.
Falling leaves would be some of the sounds that the author
craves at this moment, however, that sound is not likely to
be heard at this time. It is somewhat disappointing.
i open the door darkness letting in a strange
moth
With this haiku, I picture a summer evening. The air is heavy.
The sky is clear. The author is walking outside; maybe to
figure out what a strange noise was, maybe to take a deep
breath of the summer night, maybe to call the kids in for
dinner. What does happen, however, is that a moth finds it’s
way indoors. Moths always seem to appear in the light. Maybe
this moth has been actually waiting for the door to open so
that it could go towards the light that was indoors.
tripping her photos of autumn falling in
the leaves
This haiku has a very serene feeling and yet it almost seems
sad because of the season in which it takes place. Autumn
is a time of fading. The leaves fall. The summer comes to
an end. Vacations are replaced by work and school. The girl
is walking but then trips on her own two feet. The pictures
that she was carrying—maybe from last autumn or maybe
taken very recently - fall from her hands into the leaves.
The image of her tripping and of her photos falling into the
leaves remind me of the falling that the leaves would be doing
at this time because it is autumn and the seasons are changing.
cutting through my words the cicada
I picture an early summer evening. Maybe a couple are trying
to have a conversation. Of course, it is difficult to continue
fully with this conversation because they are not the only
ones that are out and about this evening. The gossips of nature
- the cicadas - are making their presence well known this
evening. When cicadas are very active the noises that they
make are incredibly loud considering the size of an actual
cicada. A serious conversation becomes quite an accomplishment
if it can be completed despite the noises that are surrounding
the couple.
The growth in the emergence of the one-line haiku is due
in great part to the work of Matsuo Allard. He believed in
this form of haiku and wanted to share it with the world.
This is shown by the vast number of one-line haiku that he
had published. He is a great haiku artist. Hopefully, in the
near future, Matsuo Allard will astound us with some new haiku.
Works Cited
Matsuo-Allard, R. C. Bird Day Afternoon.
HIGH/COO Chapbook #4. Battle Ground, IN. 1978.
Van De Heuvel, Cor. (ed.) The Haiku
Anthology. Third Edition. W. W. Norton & Company.
New York: 1999.
—Sarah Knutilla
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