Jill Patterson • Jill's Haiku

I have chosen to write my haiku essay on Karen Sohne. As soon as I read her work, I was immediately drawn to several vivid memories from my childhood. In my opinion her haiku are so down to earth and so simple, yet, they don't deprive the reader of the "whole story". Karen gives just enough information, and lets you the reader, take in your own story. One thing that I particularly enjoyed about her haiku was the fact that when I read them, I never thought of what her story was. Her haiku took me to my story. That is how I feel of her style. I believe her haiku are from her memories, but I feel she writes about things that are universal. As I was reading more of her haiku in the "Haiku from Home" pamphlet, the picture on the back made me smile. She appears to be just a fun loving person, and truly enjoys all of life's treasures. It was proven a difficult task to choose a few haiku of hers to write about, but ultimately I have found a few I'd like to discuss, and hope her definite fun loving, vivid style is shown through a few of my own favorites. The first haiku I'm going to discuss is ultimately the haiku that drew me in to Karen Sohne's work, and in a sense, won me over. It is as follows: ever since I was a child the moon following me home  (Sohne, The Haiku Anthology, pg.185) This haiku was the one that first initially drew me in. This I feel taps into colors, with the use of the moon, and imagining a dark sky, with the full moon. It also has tapped into the feelings of a young child staring out the window, and the young childhood thoughts I personally wondered frequently about. How is the moon following us? If it's following us, then how is it following everyone else? Or am I the lucky one?   Even as an adult I still find myself looking out the window. I also feel this haiku gives an excellent sense of calmness, with the motion of the car, the quiet of the night; it overall sends out a peaceful yet such a vivid image.   As vivid and appealing the first haiku is, Karen Sohne has a knack to just take you right back to the small things in life. I found this in the next haiku: the haiku completely gone by the time I've dried my hands  (Sohne, The Haiku Anthology, pg. 187) Amazing! This haiku is how the last five weeks of my haiku course has been. This haiku to me, is just that, so simple, and so, so true. Again this is filled with emotion, a little frustration, but at the same time, the motion of drying your hands, and the urgency of trying to remember, and then it's just gone. I love the way Karen has shown a vivid picture, and a sense of loss all at once. To me it's a feeling of something lost that can't be re-found.   In this next haiku, again Karen Sohne brings the vividness of color, and the serenity of just being, and stopping to notice the beauty in the small things in life. even in the dark daffodils  (Sohne, para. 4) Again, how she captures these pictures are wonderful. It is as though you are looking at a still shot, and you are still able to draw your own conclusion. In this haiku, the sense of color comes from not knowing, but noticing the bright yellows of daffodils. I picture a full moon, which in turn would illuminate the flower even more so from just being a flower, almost as if it was glowing in the dark. Here to me, she has also put the sense of night, and indirectly, the sense of the moon. Although she directly put the moon in the haiku the moon following me home, this haiku gives the same calmness without the directness of the word. Again in this next haiku, Karen so vividly plays upon the moon again. listening to rain all the night of the full moon (Sohne, 2001) Beautiful use of imagery, and again as I've stated before the true feelings that are brought on by her haiku work. There is the color, the sense of relaxation and calmness. I also noticed an added sense, the sweet smell of the rain. The other haiku I've discussed didn't have the sense of smell, but this haiku gives such a strong smell, that it can't go unnoticed, or most importantly unappreciated. Throughout this essay, I have found it very difficult to only choose a few of Karen's haiku. I feel she has an amazing sense for this art, and with so few words, she can bring on a complete picture, or story.   Another thing I have found quite interesting is her connectedness to the moon. The moon appears in a lot of her work, but with it, always leaves you with the feeling of calmness, or longing for more, and the sense of so many wonderful colors and imagery. I definitely feel there is complete strength behind her use of the moon in all of her haiku. Also, I feel she personally is probably very fun loving, and a strong person herself, and I think through her work this is conveyed without hesitation. With this next haiku, again she brings the moon element in and again (as with the daffodil haiku); she also draws your eyes downward to the white chrysanthemum. no moon tonight our eyes are drawn to the white chrysanthemum (Sohne, The Haiku Anthology, pg. 185) In the following two haiku she mentions the moon, however, these two draw you to a different place, not a visual place aside from the moon, but a place of feeling. alone       in our bed      in such moonlight (Sohne, 2001) so long since we've spoken another new moon I feel both of these give the sense of connectedness. In the first one you can envision the light of the moon shining all around the bedroom as the couple whether they are there together or not, it is their place. And with the second one, it appears to be a night of a beautiful moon, and the connectedness to someone who was longed for or missed. Overall, through this essay, the moon has played an important role. It always captures the right scene, and draws in different emotions. After ready Karen Sohne's work, I believe she has a deep appreciation and understanding for the beauty in life. I feel she is truly connected with herself, and outside surroundings. And as I said before, she also has accepted, and embraced the simple things in life, and has found its' beauty. I've enjoyed reading, and re-reading her work. But most of all I've enjoyed her ability and gift of giving. Works Cited Heuvel, Cor van, editor. (2000). The Haiku Anthology. (3 rd ed.). W.W. Norton & Company, Inc. Sohne, Karen, (2001). The moon following me home. Kings Road Press Sohne, Karen, (1997). Haiku from home. [Brochure]. Karen Sohne, Amityville, N.Y.