EN340
/ IN350 Global Haiku Tradition
Dr. Randy Brooks
Spring 2003 |
|
|
|
Simple
Love
Haiku
by
Christopher
A. Bronke
What
does it mean to be in love? That is a question that we,
as a culture and society, attempt to tackle in our personal
lives, our films, our music, and in our literature. Just
take a min. to think about how many times you have heard
someone say, "So, do you love her"? Love is this
undefinable, euphoric feeling of bliss that is as much a
part of our human nature as survival. Biologists will argue
that our number one instinct is to reproduce. While I can
not sit here, with my almost completed undergraduate education,
and attempt to say that those biologists who claim reproduction
as our number one instinct are incorrect; I do think that
those people have overlooked the human drive to find and
to be in love. Love works in such a weird way. We have all
heard the clichés, love is blind, or love conquers
all, but for some reason when it comes to love, those are
more than just clichés. For those who have been in
love, you know how true those sayings are, and, interestingly
enough, for those who have never been in love, a search
to put those clichés to the test is a big part of
those people lives. You may be wondering why all of this
love talk is in the introduction to a collection of Haiku,
and that would be a valid question.
|
Well,
as you will see, this collection of Haiku is dedicated
to that which is love. Over the course of this semester,
I have written a wide variety of haiku. I have attempted
to recreate the most beautiful images in nature, and to
capture the deep thoughts of self meditation and self
reflection, yet no matter how much writing I did, the
most powerful and passionate of my haiku all seemed to
revolve around love and that one special person that I
am lucky enough to love. The simplicity of haiku and haiku
writing presents itself as a perfect dichotomy to perhaps
the most complex and intense of all human emotions. The
challenge of trying to capture the blissful and euphoric
nature of love in a mere three lines provided a serious
yet thoroughly enjoyable challenge as a writer. As you
read through this collection of haiku, it is my most sincere
hope that the love that I share for that special someone
is both evident and contagious. I am not saying that after
reading my haiku I hope that you fall in love with that
special woman in my life, but it is my hopes, as a writer
and a person, that these haiku allow you to reflect upon
and think about that which is love and revel in the joy
that it can and does bring to all of our lives in one
form of another.
—Christopher
Bronke
Reader's
Introduction
When I was approached by Christopher to be a reader for
his haiku collection I was intrigued by what I would find.
I gladly said yes to Christopher and quickly began reading
his haiku. You see, Christopher is not only my college
roommate and best friend, but has been my best friend
since the sixth grade, yet I have never really shared
much with him on an intellectual level, especially poetry.
After
reading the haiku, I must say I was surprised. The thing
that jumped out at me was his passion and ability to capture
the emotions, memories and feelings associated with love.
While Christopher's poems about nature, the outdoors and
self reflection are both well written and do a beautiful
job of painting wonderful images, it is his ability to
combine images with emotion with subtle amount of personal
commentary with regards to love that stands out in his
collection.
After
reading his entire body of work, I urged Christopher to
focus on his love haiku, as it would not only make a very
nice collection in which all the haiku shared a common
theme, but because I felt that his love haiku were his
strongest pieces of work. These haiku have a way of making
those in love thankful for what they have while making
those without love in their lives smile for either what
they have had or what they hope will come again. I only
hope that as you read these haiku you feel the passion,
emotion, and dedication to another person that Christopher
wonderfully captured. He makes being a man who is hopelessly
in love, not only acceptable, but something that all men
will want to be.
—Christopher
Webb
|
flat
on our backs
one tiny light
brightens our night sky
|
|
| |
thin
mist
dissapating in night's darkness
we stare at one another
|
arms
wrapped tightly
around her body
endless rain falls outside
|
|
| |
falling
asleep
her soft hair
settles on my hand
Cool
dew, gathered on the soft ground, tickles
the feet. A gathering of small birds circles
above, as if they are about to swoop in
for a late night meal. The cool breeze dances
across the desolate plain reminding the
campers that they will need their sleeping
bags. Families begin to gather around their
respective camp fires. Within a few min.
age old family traditions will be passed
down, via story or song, to the younger
generation of campers. The sun is takes
one last breath before it goes to sleep
in its bed of trees for the night. Large
sheets of smoke slowly begin to rise as
if to overtake the air in an epic battle
or good vs. evil. In the end the smoke wins
and pushes away any trace of the day’s
fresh air and replaces it with the precious
reminder of camping.
Mid-day sun
Beams down on us
--sand volleyball
|
on
shakey knee
precious little box is opened
lives forever changed
|
|
| |
Cool
dew,
gathered
on
the
soft
ground,
tickles
the
feet.
A
gathering
of
small
birds
circles
above,
as
if
they
are
about
to
swoop
in
for
a
late
night
meal.
The
cool
breeze
dances
across
the
desolate
plain
reminding
the
campers
that
they
will
need
their
sleeping
bags.
Families
begin
to
gather
around
their
respective
camp
fires.
Within
a
few
min.
age
old
family
traditions
will
be
passed
down,
via
story
or
song,
to
the
younger
generation
of
campers.
The
sun
is
takes
one
last
breath
before
it
goes
to
sleep
in
its
bed
of
trees
for
the
night.
Large
sheets
of
smoke
slowly
begin
to
rise
as
if
to
overtake
the
air
in
an
epic
battle
or
good
vs.
evil.
In
the
end
the
smoke
wins
and
pushes
away
any
trace
of
the
day’s
fresh
air
and
replaces
it
with
the
precious
reminder
of
camping.
Mid-day
sun
Beams
down
on
us
—sand
volleyball
|
©2003
Randy Brooks, Millikin University, Decatur, Illinois || all rights
reserved for original authors
|
