• Aaron's Haiku •

Lee Gurga’s Seasonal Haiku: The Value of Simplicity While reading The Haiku Anthology Lee Gurga’s haiku stood out to me over and beyond any other author’s haiku in Cor Van den Heuval’s collection. I thought Gurga brought an incredibly interesting outlook on life and this opened up my eyes to even more knowledge about haiku the value of simplicity in haiku. I was still learning the essential elements of great haiku, so I was eager to learn about contemporary approaches to writing haiku. I was even more inclined to study Lee Gurga for my contemporary author essay for the simple fact that Dr. Randy Brooks put so much emphasis on his work in class. He made sure the class paid close attention to Gurga’s work. This caused me to believe Lee Gurga’s work must be especially intriguing. Therefore, I wanted to explore his motivation to write haiku and analyze how he has become such a widely acclaimed contemporary haiku poet. Before I learned a little about his background, I had an idea he was probably from California or somewhere far away. I found it interesting that Lee Gurga actually lives central Illinois now and has lived in the Midwest his entire life. Lee Gurga grew up in Chicago before relocating to Lincoln, Illinois. Gurga attended the University of Illinois where he studied dentistry, mathematics, Asian studies, and dance. This education provided him with a uniquely broad knowledge and understanding of profession and lifelong art. He now lives with his family and operates a dentist practice in Lincoln, Illinois. Gurga began his work in haiku when he found a haiku book on the bookshelf of a Chicago bookstore. From there, he has won several prestigious awards for his haiku over the years. I have found several of Lee Gurga’s haiku that are particularly interesting to me as a reader. I feel that I enjoy his haiku more than any other author, because he often writes about moments in his life that he has experienced. Since he has grown up around the same area as I, this may influence the way I interpret his haiku. pine shade the wooden bench worn smooth Gurga, Global Haiku, page 55 I picture from this haiku a bench sitting underneath a pine tree. Although this is not my favorite of Lee Gurga’s haiku, I feel it represents the simplicity of his thoughts at times. I like the way he can take a simple moment such as this and generate thoughts and feelings in the reader’s mind. I often think that with this instance in the warm weather, the bench is frequently used because of its exact placement in the shade. Everyone enjoys sitting on a bench in a park watching people walk by. This bench may be a special place for someone. Possibly a place they meet someone frequently to talk about their lives. They sit for hours enjoying the beautiful weather and talking with each other. This bench grows old, but more and more people keep using the bench for comfort. The bench becomes worn, but almost seems to increase in comfort, as if it becomes smoother over the years from the constant wear. This haiku also generates a memory for me from my childhood. We had a bench outside in the yard that I used to love to sit on during my childhood. Everyone in my family used to like sitting on the bench though, so it was sometimes tough to get space on. It was not an exceptionally comfortable bench, but it was strategically placed in the yard resulting in a great view of the landscape. rows of corn stretch to the horizon— sun on the thunderhead Gurga, The Haiku Anthology, page 53 Not only is simplicity evident in Gurga’s haiku, but he also likes to use a seasonal element in some of his work. Rows of corn automatically takes the reader to sometime during the summer or fall. Personally this haiku takes me to the fall season when the corn is tall and when you look down the row, you see nothing but corn. He captures this image by describing the corn as stretching to the horizon. The first two lines of this haiku set the moment and the reader can picture this perfectly. The last line then contributes a second image to the moment. Anyone that lives in a rural area has seen a thunderhead on the horizon. It is amazing how the sun shines through the thunderhead, resulting in a picture that some may only see in the art gallery. I can remember sitting outside on the porch in the evening or early afternoon when a storm is about to come in. The clouds are moving quickly, so it seems as if the sun keeps dodging in and out of all the thunderheads. I can see the sun beating down still, but knowing rain was nearing quickly. The rows of corn begin to sway in the wind, and I can hear thunder in the background. I can remember this happening quite a few times in fact because I enjoyed being outdoors when I was growing up. I liked to play in the rain and so I was able to see the magnificent natural things happening around me while I was growing up. Lee Gurga does an excellent job of capturing the moment of scenery and nature for the reader to live all over again. This must have been an exceptionally meaningful moment in his life to spark a haiku. I make this comment based on the fact that Gurga is motivated to write haiku solely off of special moments in his life. a bike in the grass one wheel slowly turning— summer afternoon Gurga, The Haiku Anthology, page 52 One idea we analyzed late in the semester was Zen principles. Lee Gurga really uses a lot of Zen principles in his work that I was not aware of before. When we studied his haiku earlier in the semester we talked about some of these principles but not in the Zen context. It is interesting how these are related in a way. For example, the haiku describing one wheel slowly turning is very simple. It is a brief haiku that really describes a vivid image in the simplest form. Everyone has probably seen the wheel of a bike turning slowly, but not many people have really watched and enjoyed that simple moment. Obviously Gurga had an experience with this sometime throughout his life and he was attentive enough to capture this moment in his mind and write a haiku about it later. He again uses a seasonal element in this haiku. Summer afternoon really sets the season and gives the haiku a very nice touch. It is amazing how many Zen elements he utilizes in his work. I am able to picture myself in the exact situation, seeing exactly what he was seeing at the time. wedding picture: each face finds a different camera Gurga, The Haiku Anthology, page 54 This haiku by Gurga is very intriguing to me. I can relate to this haiku especially because I have attended several weddings lately. It is interesting because everyone wants to look at the people taking pictures but there are so many people taking pictures, no one looks at the same camera. This is one of my favorite haiku of Gurga’s because of his ability to capture the moment. Most everyone knows exactly what he is talking about and can relate directly to that moment. He must be speaking of his own wedding or a friend’s wedding that he has attended. He obviously noticed this situation occurring and captured the moment in his mind. I tend to believe it was possibly his own wedding, being that he usually writes of especially important moments in his life. Maybe the official photographer was getting frustrated with the wedding party. He was not able to do his job quite as well because of the other people wanting pictures at the same time. Any situation may have occurred, but I think this is a very interesting moment in his life to write about. on the second day I buy a deck of cards— spring rain Gurga, Fresh Scent, page 44 The first time I read this haiku by Lee Gurga, I automatically thought of a vacation. It seems to happen quite a few times on vacation to people when storms ruin a nice outside vacationing spot. For instance, Gurga may have traveled somewhere he was planning on being outside most of the time. Bad weather caused him to alter his plans and by the second day he goes to the store and buys cards. He does not speak of any upset feelings, but he obviously has altered his plans to accommodate for the weather. This has happened to everyone, and I can relate to this personally as well. I can remember being on a family vacation in Florida when it rained one day all day long. Everyone wanted to go outside and kept hoping the rain would stop so we could go outside. After a couple hours of waiting, we finally decided to just play some cards and wait it out. We ended up having a lot of fun playing cards with everyone. It showed us we should just take the situation and try to make it positive. This is a haiku where Lee Gurga again utilizes a seasonal element. Spring rain really makes this haiku, because I never thought of the weather until the last line. This line tells us why everyone is inside playing cards. Otherwise we may have pictured some other moment occurring. the longest day— a mother calls and calls into the night Gurga, Fresh Scent, page 71 This haiku can be interpreted in many different ways. It is one of my favorites by Gurga because he leaves the option of interpretation by the reader extremely open. The reader could see the mother of an animal calling her offspring at the end of the day. The offspring could have been off playing with other animals, but never travel outside the call of their mother. Another interpretation could be of a worried mother. I personally thought of this situation when I read this haiku. I picture a mother waiting for her son to get home from a night out with his friends. She can not go to sleep until he is home safe. He may be late for his curfew, causing even further worry by his mother. She may be calling places trying to find where he could be. She has had a long day at work, and she just wants to go to bed knowing her son has arrived back home safely. I can relate to this moment especially, because I had a curfew in high school. If I was late for my curfew, my mom would usually be up worrying if I am safe. Personally, I feel this haiku represents a great deal of caring and warmth. Gurga allows the reader to take this haiku in whatever direction they want, and I feel this is how he relates to various haiku readers. He does an extremely nice job of capturing the mindset of the mother in this haiku. Lee Gurga’s approach to writing haiku emphasizes simplicity and seasonal elements. These two elements are very common throughout his work. His haiku were structured in a way that was extremely easy for the reader to relate to. I believe this is the reason Gurga is so well known by the haiku audience. I really enjoyed studying his haiku and I have learned some essential elements in his writing that I can use to improve my own haiku writing. —Aaron Meyer