Sunday, January 1, 2012

Basho Revisited, my morning glory

Also published for:


A little while ago I have written a few haiku for Poets United and with this new blog-item I will do that again. Poets United ... I think that's a good strive to unite all poets of all kinds of poetry.


Haiku has humor in it  and in earlier times it also had sometimes an erotic content. This erotic content wasn't  explicitly visible in the haiku. Matsuo Basho (1644-1694), a haikumaster, too used humor and hidden erotic content in his haiku.
In the following haiku Basho is referring to a certain part of the male body.


Matsuo Basho (1644-1694)


warau beshi naku beshi   waga asagao no   shibomu toki


ought one laugh or cry
when my Morning Glory
withers up



Well ... what's in a haiku. I ran into this haiku by Basho when reading Jane Reichhold's Old Pond: Basho's (almost) thousand haiku I never had thought that Basho "my idol", could especially mention, in hidden terms, this male body part. But he did.


Why this little story? Well ... in this haiku Basho writes with self-deprecating  and I want to learn that myself. I am just a casual guy, but I also have my "abnormalities" but I never just use them in my haiku. Because once I learned that in haiku the poet himself is never present.
This haiku by Basho, so explicitly the poet is present. So I will try to write a haiku myself with some self-deprecating.


laugh at me
when I put my glasses on
I am an old man



Not entirely the same content, but I think in this haiku I show self-deprecating, because I 'hate' my glasses, but I need them. Glasses ... not for me I said, but I have one since a few months. Yes I am getting old, but I am happy with it.




Sincerely

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