The book The Scare Crow: A Collection of Haiku & Senryu (Leroy Kanterman, Ed., Hiroake Sato, translator, Red Moon Press, 1999), has dozens of wonderful haiku featuring the scarecrow, along with an essay “The Scarecrow and Our Haiku” by John Stevenson.
Here are three of the poems, written by a trio of f/k/a’s Honored Guests:
a cricket
lending the scarecrow
a voice
seeding time
the farmer dresses the same
as the scarecrow
tthe scarecrow
moving backwards —
autumn rain
For more, see scarecrow: yes, strawman: no (Aug. 26, 2005), and click for over 50 scarecrow haiku by Kobayashi Issa translated by David G. Lanoue
Have you ever heard of Maxence Fermine’s book “Snow”? It’s about haikus, the book is about 80 pages but truly profound. Check out this book. I enjoy your blogging.
Thank you, Robert Earl Lewis
Comment by Robert Earl Lewis — April 20, 2005 @ 2:15 pm
Thank you, Robert, both for the recommendation (I’ll check into the book) and the compliment.
Comment by David Giacalone — April 20, 2005 @ 5:31 pm
I pulled this from Amazon, so you could have a brief description.
From Booklist
French author Fermine’s concise romantic tale emulates the airiness and grace of haiku, the form of poetry 17-year-old Yuko Akita, a meditative soul drawn to the quiet beauty of snow, wants to devote himself to writing. The year is 1884, the setting is northern Japan, and the conflict is with Yuko’s father, who is not pleased with his son’s obsessions with snow and the color white, or his decision to become a poet. He is, therefore, gratified when the Imperial Poet recommends the master Soseki, an artist who, he assures the aspiring young poet, will teach him about color. Yuko sets out on an arduous journey, in the classic fairy-tale mode, and nearly dies in a blizzard but is saved by a vision of a beautiful white woman in a coffin of ice. He is puzzled to find that the man who is to teach him about color is blind, and astonished to learn that Soseki has long been mourning the death of his wife, a beautiful European tightrope walker. Fermine’s ethereal, Zen-like fable is exquisite. Simply lovely. Donna Seaman
Copyright
Comment by Robert Earl Lewis — April 22, 2005 @ 11:21 am
Thanks, again, R.E.L. The book sounds intriguing. Others who are interested can click here for its Amazon.com page (and check out Marketplace selections, as low as $2 new). I’m going to borrow a copy from my local Library over the weekend (despite being a little worried by a novel called “romantic).
Comment by David Giacalone — April 23, 2005 @ 12:45 am