Julie Weightman •

Karen Sohne: haiku writer Reading The Haiku Anthology edited by Cor van den Heuval, the haiku written by Karen Sohne caught my attention. The first haiku that caught my eye was the following: the haiku completely gone by the time I’ve dried my hands By the time I read this haiku, I felt as though I was just being introduced to haiku in general. My experiences ever since starting this class involve paying more attention to the little things around me. Then, I would try to create a haiku from my observations. If I thought of one, I would rarely remember it by the time I reached paper and a pencil to write it down. This haiku captures the experience that I have been going through. It makes it more interesting too that it is a haiku directly describing a haiku experience. This haiku made me look more closely at her other haiku, and I realized that I really liked them. I believe the reasoning behind this is that my personality and topics that I enjoy are similar to the style and to the topics she writes about. My personality is very down to earth. I enjoy simplicity in my life. I think Sohne has a simple writing style. She does not play around too much with the structure of the haiku. Out of her ten haiku from the anthology, only two of them have slightly different structures than the normal three lines in a perfect column. Even the ones that are different have just slight changes. For example, one has two lines while the other one plays around with indentation. Compared to other authors in the anthology, such as Alan Pizzarelli or Marlene Mountain, who jump all over the page, Sohne has a simple style. Sohne also keeps this simple style by barely using any punctuation at all. In all of the haiku that I have read, they did not have any periods or dashes to signify a pause. The words she uses flow so smoothly that punctuation is not necessary. A reader can easily imply where he or she needs to pause. I actually believe that punctuation would ruin the simple flow of the haiku. Along with the simplicity of her haiku structure, I also enjoy her humanist approach. Most of her haiku include words such as I, me, my, or our. This makes me believe that her haiku are sincere and come from actual moments that she has experienced. This is an important factor of haiku. People will not connect with moments that they have never experienced. With most of her haiku, I have either experienced similar situations or have heard others speak about similar situations. The words she uses are also ones used often in a person’s daily life. She uses words such as movies, work, home, etc. These words are not out of reach for anyone. They are not too specific or difficult that only a small group of people are able to understand them. Her haiku are universal. Not all of her haiku directly use words like me or my. These haiku involve more images from nature. However, I would still consider these haiku humanistic. Although they do not say it directly, it seems obvious that humans are a main part of the haiku. For example, they are observing the dragonfly or sitting next to the red tulip. Without this feeling, I would not be able to connect to a tulip sitting on its own without any human involvement. From reading through The Haiku Anthology, I noticed a few authors whose haiku I would consider naturalistic without a human connection. For example, O. Mabson Southard uses naturalistic images that focuses in on the actions or images of a lily pad, crow, etc. I personally cannot imagine a person looking upon or interacting with nature in Southard’s haiku. I like the personal factor more because it is familiar to me. Another aspect of Sohne’s haiku that I enjoy is that although her haiku have a personal level, they do not provide the reader with too much information. The reader is not directed to feel a certain way. I feel that other authors who write on a more personal or humanist level tend to give the reader too much and influences how the reader should feel. For example, Alexis Rotella seems to use so much detail that I can only imagine one scene. I cannot imagine too far beyond my first thought after reading the haiku. With Sohne, however, one haiku makes my mind wander to several different scenes and ideas. A main reason why I like Sohne’s haiku is that her haiku topics are diverse. First, I find humor in several of them. I noticed her humor in the haiku at the beginning of this essay. The haiku describes a haiku writer’s experience in a funny manner. I picture a person coming up with a great haiku while going to the bathroom. It makes me wonder what the subject was of the haiku that was forgotten. After reading that haiku, I looked for humor in other ones too. The following haiku uses very few words to create the humor: androgynous stranger winks at me I think everyone at one time or another has seen someone who could pass for either male or female. It is always an awkward situation. It is even worse if that person winks at you. Usually a situation as awkward and funny as this one is quickly told to friends. This haiku sounds as if someone is in the middle of telling this story and laughing with a large group of friends. By simply reading it, I feel that I am laughing along with the group. Another humorous haiku written by Sohne is the following: the men on both sides have taken my armrests Everyone has experienced this situation. The movie theater seats can be very uncomfortable. People are always adjusting to find the most comfortable seating position. It seems as if people fight over who can get their arm first on an armrest. It is annoying when a person cannot use either armrest. I find this haiku even more humorous in the fact that it is two men who have taken the armrests. When I think about this situation, I cannot picture two women doing the same thing. I imagine two men who spread out without the thought of others. Therefore, women readers can probably laugh at this haiku more than men readers do because they have experienced these inconsiderate men before. Not only does Karen Sohne have haiku involving funny situations, but she also has haiku involving nature. One haiku involving nature that I enjoy is the following: looking straight into the sun dandelions The haiku mentions two elements, the sun and dandelions, from nature. The use of these two elements gives me a strong sense of summer. There are several options to take with this haiku. I can imagine the sun looking like dandelions or dandelions looking like the sun. On a different level, I can see someone holding dandelions while looking into the sun. Since I like the color yellow, this haiku quickly appeals to my imagery senses. As mentioned earlier, I do not believe that nature stands alone. I see a continuous interaction between humans and nature since humans are a part of nature. The person looking into the sun is a main part of the haiku. I wonder why the person is looking straight into the sun. I imagine the person to be a child who does not listen to his or her parents about not looking directly into the sun. A child, however, is very curious as to what will happen. With all of these extended thoughts about the child, it demonstrates that the haiku does not simply represent the nature of the dandelions and of the sun. Humans are an integral part, interacting with those elements. Another haiku that combines nature with humans is the following: rain ticking on the leaves the long night At first, this haiku seems to focus simply on naturalistic elements or rain, leaves, and night. I can imagine the leaves with drops of rain on them. The words ticking and long night are the ones that bring the human element into the scene. I imagine someone awake late at night trying to finish a project. I wonder what the exact reason is for the person to still be awake. The person is trying to concentrate while the naturalistic scene is seen through a window over the person’s shoulder. Both the person’s situation and the descriptive nature scene fit together in an important manner. Along with humor and nature, Sohne also writes about experiences that are extremely personal. It is nice that she feels comfortable enough to let her readers enter into her personal sphere. The following haiku is an example of one that seems to reach into her personal life: horror movie commercial break my son follows me into the kitchen I do not know if she has a son, but I am assuming that this haiku is directly about her and her son. I picture Sohne experiencing this situation with her son in her own home. It is important that she seems to bring the reader into her home. Some writers may try to stay away from this. However, Sohne is open about sharing her life with others. She does not seem to have anything to hide. This draws the readers in and makes them feel important enough that she would share a part of her life with them. Karen Sohne’s haiku appeals to me in a variety of ways. They seem to be everything that haiku should be. Her haiku have a sincere quality to them. They come from real experiences and observations. She writes in a simple style that allows the readers to add to the haiku and to make it mean something to them. Whether it is through humorous, naturalistic, or personal experiences, I, probably along with many other readers, can connect with most of her haiku in some way. —Julie Weightman