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marco zuppone Haiku

H comme HAIKU

Sometimes I wonder: “Is the earth becoming colder and colder towards another Ice Age? Or is it getting warmer and warmer because everyone is emitting megatons of CO2 everyday?”

A falcon
Is being absorbed
Into the autumn sky
*
(Kofou)

“Haiku”, the shortest Japanese poem

Sometimes I wonder:

“Is the earth becoming colder and colder towards another Ice Age? Or is it getting warmer and warmer because everyone is emitting megatons of CO2 everyday?”

The summer is cold and the winter is warm these days. What’s going on? The Japanese newspapers don’t give anything but the superficial views as usual so I googled and yahood for the clearer analysis but the opinions from all over the world only made me more confused. A natural-born optimist as I am, I put off the conclusion till tomorrow, take a night cap and go sound asleep.

Haiku (h aspire) is the Japanese (and probably the world’s) shortest form of poem. It has only 12 syllables, 5-7-5. The archetype originates in the 12th century Japan and was developed greatly during the 17th century and made into the profound literature.

It has many interesting and fascinating characteristics but the most unique one (and this is one of the reasons that I have been deeply committed) is the rule that you have to put in each Haiku a word that represents a season. You may use the direct word, the spring, summer, autumn or winter, or you can also use the words that symbolize a specific season. For example, “the moon” stands for the autumn, “frog” for the spring, “cuckoo” for the summer and “ice,” as you may have rightly guessed, for the winter. The moon shines all through the year but the Japanese feel it shines most beautifully through the lucid air in the fall. Frogs start coming out of the water in spring, and cuckoos are heard in the mountains mostly in summer.

So when you write a Haiku, you begin to observe the nature more closely and intently. And you begin to love it as it is however harsh or severe it may be. The summer should be hot and the winter should be cold. We, the Haiku poets, cannot help wishing the nature as seasonal as possible.

Kofou Sugimoto

*In Japanese, it reads :

To-bi-i-chi-wa
Su-i-ko-ma-re-yu-ku
A-ki-no-so-ra

**  » la nuit »

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