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Reader
Response Essay
I have chosen
ten haiku by Alan Pizzarelli that were my favorite. Each one of
these haiku put me in a different moment. I will write about where
each haiku takes me, why it takes me there, the images I get from
them, and the chosen word usage of the haiku. Alan Pizzarelli has
a way of using comedy and sarcasm to project great images through
his words.
on
the bright marquee
a man’s shadow changes the letters
The brightness
of the marquee against the shadow of the man is a good image. I
can put myself into this haiku. It puts me in a downtown on a nice
starry cool night. I stop to read the bright marquee, it takes me
a while but I get it. Just as I finished reading it one of the letter
parts began to move and it walked away. I reread the marquee which
now says something completely different. This haiku does well with
putting me into the moment.
reaching
for
the wind up toy
it rides off the table
This haiku has
a delayed reaction. By starting with the image of just reaching
for the toy and then adding the element of motion throws so fun
into the haiku. If I just read the first two lines I think that
the toy is simply sitting somewhere waiting to be wound up. Then
in the third line all of the sudden caught off guard we are reaching
to keep the toy on the table. Once I see the toy in motion though
it takes me back to the winding up process. The toy gets wound up
then place on the table and it takes off from there. Watching the
toy I get caught up having fun and I realize that it is going off
of the table a little to late. This haiku makes me smile because
of the movement of the toy, I get to make whatever the toy does
up myself.
just
before dawn
a beachball
floats
across the stillness of the pool
lightens
The "just
before dawn," does a lot for me in this haiku. I have been
up all night outside of my friend’s apartment talking. Which
in it of itself is fun. Someone notices the stillness of the water
and the presence of the beach ball. It is nice weather, warm and
the stars were very abundant. We lost track of time and before we
knew it we were talking about the ball in the pool and the sun broke
through the horizon. The placement of the words "float"
and "lightens" are great. By putting "float"
out away from the other words it, to the eye, begins to float. The
by dropping "lightens" we have a break to take in the
floating ball and then light starts to fill the sky.
the
fat lady
bends over the tomatoes
a full moon
This gave me
the image of being young again and at my friend’s house with
a bunch of other friends. We are in the backyard play a game of
some sort. The neighbor behind my friend’s house is outside
doing lawn work. She was ding some work with the flowers which we
didn’t notice that much. Actually we didn’t really notice
her at all until she began to work in the garden which was right
by the fence. What really grabbed our attention was when she was
picking her tomatoes, she was bent over and showing her bum. The
game came to a halt and we all started to snicker and whisper in
a group of course. Well we laughed for a little while longer but
then she moved on to the cucumbers. I really liked how this haiku
kept us moving forward. First the description of her, then what
she was doing, and then the full picture right there in the open.
At
shortstop
between innings
sparrows dust bathing
Little League
games, the family outside on a nice day or early evening giving
their support to the team. The game is in progress and everyone
is either coaching or being coached. After one of the third outs
the field is cleared for a brief moment while teams are switching
and that’s when the birds join in on the game. I enjoy the
positioning at shortstop and I like how Pizzarelli uses dust bathing.
snow falls
from trees
rumble
of passing cars
This is a more
traditional haiku of Pizzarelli’s. There is a since of peacefulness
and beauty within this haiku. I see everything covered in snow,
so pure and white. The image of the first line with the snow covered
trees and the snow falling from those trees is beautiful. The rumble
approaches and the train enters the white surroundings passing by
adding color for a moment or two and then back to the white cover.
The area that this takes place in seems to be distant and rarely
visited so the rumble is heard all around.
flinging
the frisbee
skips off the ground
curving up hits a tree
petals
This selection
takes me in two different ways; one as the frisbee and the other
as the thrower. The reason that it turns me into the frisbee is
that the reader is taken on the ride with the frisbee. By both the
words themselves but also by the placement on the page of the words.
After we skip off of the ground we start to skip up and begin to
soar again, we have a little hang time through the spacing and then
we hit a tree. Then we have time to fall to the ground, breath,
and be joined by falling petals of the tree. The dropping down of
the petals line is very good. It has the delay of falling petals
and the placement of the petals falling on the ground.
the dog runs
after the stick
i pretend to throw
For anybody
that has ever had a dog this haiku is perfect. I remember playing
with my dog Dexter and that happened only about a million times.
He would be so excited and would bring me the toy with his tail
a waggin’. He would drop it in my lap or at my feet and then
hit it with his nose until I would play. The second that I picked
it up he would jump back and be ready to go. Any movement of my
arm and Dex would be off like a rocket.
buzzZ
slaP
buzzZ
I read this
haiku two different ways, one as the "buzzZ" being an
alarm clock and the other as the "buzzZ" being a bug.
The morning ritual of battling the alarm clack was my favorite reading
of this haiku. It go off I whack the snooze and five minutes later
it’s in my ear again. This is an on going battle that has yet
to be solved. The reading of the bug is just as good because everyone
has had that bug that you just can’t get. The bug that won’t
leave you only, it’s always in your ear and you slap at it,
thinking you’ve hit it you relax. Only to find it buzzing in
your ear again. Either way that you read it I enjoy how the word
"buzzZ" grows in size, as it grows more and more annoying.
driving
out of the car wash
clouds move
across the hood
This haiku is
set up very well. Being at the car wash gives the reader an image
of what kind of day that it is, I see it as a nice warm day. A day
that I get a chance to wash my car and relax. As I am pulling out
of the car wash I an admiring the cleanliness of the front of my
car. And as I get further out, my eyes still focused on my hood,
the images of clouds take over the shiny look of my car. My eyes
focus in on the reflection of these newly formed clouds and then
go right to the source and look up to find a storm coming. Doesn’t
this always happen. I think that the clouds appearing in the hood
is great it draws your attention to the nice clean car and then
the clouds move in to "rain on the parade."
—Brad
Tubbs
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