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January 24: One thing I like about Modern Haiku is that it always has several essays. None go beyond received wisdom about haiku, but many get into precincts of the haiku world I'm hazy about, particularly Japan. The Autumn issue, for instance, has a (not well-translated) essay considered of historical importance in Japan by Shuoshi (1892-1981) followed by a response to it and a consideration of Shuoshi's haiku. There seems to have been a big controversy between haijin content to copy images out of nature, and haijin who felt the need to copy only those images from nature that they could add a connection between them (if one were not already implied) that produced a haiku moment, or something more than an, "oh yes, that appletree is beautiful" sort of response. Found the universal in particulars as a later essay by Bruce Ross has it. Helped an engagent into Manywhere-at-Once, as I was have it.
Ross's essay seems bland to me, but quotes some fine haiku. For instance: "the open window/ the old curtain/ mended with a grey cloud," by Aksinia Mikhailova of Bulgaria. This I, incorrigibly an editor, tried to improve by getting the mending last as, I thought, the most important detail. But then I realized that, positioned where it is, "mended" trips up the reader, making him wonder what is doing the mending. This sets up the surprise of the cloud, passing in the distance, making the cloud the most important image. Another Ross quotes, which is by none other than Basho, did less than nothing to me: "How I long to see/ among the morning flowers/ the face of God." What, the flowers aren't enough for you? To put aside the silliness of hoping for something so unlikely as "the face of God" to show up. Oh, well, maybe something was lost in the translation.
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