Karumi

The quality of karumi, or lightness, can be found in Basho’s haiku as early as 1667. He was twenty-three years old when he wrote the following:*

cherry blossoms

in the breeze — breaking out

in laughter 

Haruo Shirane, Chair of East Asian Languages and Cultures at Columbia University, has described karumi as “a focus on everyday subject matter, on the use of ordinary language, and on a relaxed rhythmical, seemingly artless expression.” Here the traditional topic of cherry blossoms takes on an unusually welcome aspect. Rather than contrasting the beauty of the flowers with sadness at their brevity, for instance, Basho depicts the exuberance of the moment. Is it the blossoms that have broken out in laughter or the poet? Or both? In this case, ambiguity adds to the impact of the lines.

Much haiku is celebratory in nature. An exclamatory haiku such as the one above is a good example of this. Another approach, common to the Basho school of haiku, presents two juxtaposed images, offering up a view that embraces them both. Below, a view of the garden, written near the end of Basho’s life, evokes a minimalist yet wholistic response: 

morning dew —

muddy melons

on the ground

Here there’s no trace of poetic conceit, just the pristine scene as Basho found it. In that sense, karumi may be considered not only in its literal sense as “not heavy or dark” but as possessed of a light artistic touch, allowing the reader to bring to the scene what he or she will. Even on his deathbed, Basho found an unexpected lightness:

flies everywhere —

how lucky they are to meet up

with a sick man

In the 20^th century, Nakagawa Soen was a lifelong practitioner of haiku. As a literature student at Tokyo Imperial University, he wrote his thesis on Basho and later became a Zen monk and teacher. This haiku, written in 1946, presents two images pointing to the connection of ordinary things:

small plums

and dewdrops —

alive together

Although penetrating, there’s nothing heavy about these lines. Instead there’s a clarity and freshness, and a sense of happiness at the simple pleasures. We, too, are alive together with the plums and the dewdrops. How wonderful! These are the primary characteristics of karumi.

*all versions by jg

Writing Prompt

This haiku prompt is aligned with the Basho school, using juxtaposed images. The purpose isn’t to create great haiku necessarily, but to gain flexibility in different ways of observing. Try juxtaposing an image of:

• something large with something small
• something animate with something inanimate
• an experience of one sense perception with one of a different sense perception
• nature with an emotion
• something old with something new
• something appealing with something unappealing

Then, play around with the lines, mixing and matching them to see what possibilities come up.

Poems, for Now

Last month I was invited to join with other poets for a Zoom reading sponsored by the River Heron Review out of Bucks County, PA. Hosted by co-founders Judith Lagana and Robbin Farr, it showcased work addressing the socio-political climate that appeared in the online venue Poems for Now. The reading provided a chance to see and hear poets from around the country and offered a refreshing change from the jingoistic language so prevalent today. Kudos to all those who participated and thanks to Judith and Robbin for making it all come together. www.riverheronreview.com

How to Haiku

Thanks to editor Bruce Ross for including the haiku, “sheltering in place” in the Fall/Winter edition of Autumn Moon Haiku Journal, out of Maine (www.autumnmoonhaiku.com). The author of How to Haiku, a Writer’s Guide to Haiku and Related Forms, Ross seeks selections that “express feeling connected to nature” and that “produce a haiku moment…”

Joy Harjo Reads

As part of the Poetry Society of America’s “Reading Through the Decades” series, U.S. Poet Laureate Joy Harjo reads How to make good baked salmon from the river, by Nora Marks Dauenhauer: https://poetrysociety.org/features/reading-through-the-decades/joy-harjo-reads-nora-marks-dauenhauer.

“On Grief in the Holidays…”

Tracy K. Smith, Pulitzer Prize-winning poet, speaks to Kat Chow on how she processes grief during the holidays and her rituals for the new year (NPR, 12/2/20). https://www.npr.org.

New Year Wishes

Here we are in December, wrapping up a rough year as the pandemic continues to take its toll. The light at the end of the tunnel, of course, is that there’s a vaccine on the horizon. It may not be a cure-all but it promises to save thousands of lives around the world. I’m grateful for that, and for the many gestures of generosity and courage I see and hear about every day. May this season bring hope and not just more hype, and may it be a time of light and healing as we move forward into the new year.