f/k/a . . .

A primary reason that I’ve always thought haiku is such a good fit for lawyers is:

rules: not only are there lots of rules, but they are in dispute,

constantly evolving, often misapplied, and frequently defended

or attacked beyond all reason.

Thus, beyond the literary and aesthetic pleasures of haiku, lawyers can have fun

judging and arguing about which verses are “real” haiku, and which are merely

faux haiku.  

 

Because I know busy lawyers might not read lengthy essays on the definition

and writing of haiku I thought I would post a rather quick and painless guide

is it or ain’t it haiku?, which also has links to other sources.  Its first version

appeared in January, 2005, as a Comment at Villainous Companions.    It is

part of my compaign to rid cyberspace and society of “pseudo-haiku” that is being

called haiku merely because it is written in verse form, with 5–7–5 syllable lines. 

• 
  
  
  

  I admit that my own haiku has certain literary pretensions.  Nonetheless,  

  
  

  this crusade isn’t snobbery on my part, but is instead a lawyerly obsession

  
  

  with agreeing on, and complying with, a shared definition of terms, so that

  
  

  communication can be meaningful.   My silliness credentials are solid, and I enjoy 

  
  

  “spam haiku”, “sci-fi-ku“, “gothic haiku”, “computer-error haiku”, “dead-

  
  

  baby haiku”, “cat haiku,” etc., but they are virtually never (and usually only

  
  

  accidentally) real haiku.   As you’ll see here, some might be included in the

  
  

  genre of senryu, but most are light, humorous verses in the poetic family

  
  

  known in Japan as zappai.

After reading is it or ain’t it haiku?, you should be able to readily distinguish a

fine example of senryu from two excellent examples of haiku out of this trio of

poems by Honored Guest W.F. Owen:

single again

soap bar slivers

mashed together

 

 

 

 

 

fading light
rain overflows
the gutter

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

spring thunder
slight cracks in the
swollen tree buds

 

 W.F. Owen 

“single again” -  frogpond XXVIII: 2 (2005)    

“fading light” - tinywords (Feb. 10, 2005)

“spring thunder” - Mainichi Daily News  (May 7, 2005) 

 

 

 

 

• 
  
  from dagosan  

strangers on

  my park bench . . . . . . . . . . . . from over here

                                                   a whole new river

 

 [May 31, 2005]

Speaking of making distinctions:  I am pleased to see that when

Australian lawyers look for alternatives to hourly billing, they

understand that clients wants lower fees and more efficiency from

alternative billing methods  — not higher fees masquerading under

the banner of “value billing“.  (”Lawyers Weekly [AU], “Lawyers

considering alternative billing,” June 1, 2005).

 

   My buddy Carolyn Elefant loves to urge lawyers to hang

a shingle and go solo (or micro).  What I would like to see are some stats

or studies on the financial realities of going solo:  How long can it take

to actually make a living?  What are the demographics of those who

survive (do they have high-salaried spouses? particular specialties?

other sources of income?  an existing porfolio of clients?).    What is

the median income after 5 years as a solo?   How many of those able

to make a comfortable living are working more hours not less than in

their big-firm jobs?

 

  Thanks to Overlawyered.com for staying on top of the Ford Explorer

“tainted juror” story, featuring Texas lawyer Jesse Gamez, his romantic pal

on the jury, and a $28 million roll-over verdict.  A Texas judge rejected

Ford’s demand for a new trial.  (See Law.com, May 27, 2005). 

 

A primary reason that I’ve always thought haiku is such a good fit for lawyers is:

rules: not only are there lots of rules, but they are in dispute,

constantly evolving, often misapplied, and frequently defended

or attacked beyond all reason.

Thus, beyond the literary and aesthetic pleasures of haiku, lawyers can have fun

judging and arguing about which verses are “real” haiku, and which are merely

faux haiku.  

 

Because I know busy lawyers might not read lengthy essays on the definition

and writing of haiku I thought I would post a rather quick and painless guide

is it or ain’t it haiku?, which also has links to other sources.  Its first version

appeared in January, 2005, as a Comment at Villainous Companions.    It is

part of my compaign to rid cyberspace and society of “pseudo-haiku” that is being

called haiku merely because it is written in verse form, with 5–7–5 syllable lines. 

• 
  
  
  

  I admit that my own haiku has certain literary pretensions.  Nonetheless,  

  
  

  this crusade isn’t snobbery on my part, but is instead a lawyerly obsession

  
  

  with agreeing on, and complying with, a shared definition of terms, so that

  
  

  communication can be meaningful.   My silliness credentials are solid, and I enjoy 

  
  

  “spam haiku”, “sci-fi-ku“, “gothic haiku”, “computer-error haiku”, “dead-

  
  

  baby haiku”, “cat haiku,” etc., but they are virtually never (and usually only

  
  

  accidentally) real haiku.   As you’ll see here, some might be included in the

  
  

  genre of senryu, but most are light, humorous verses in the poetic family

  
  

  known in Japan as zappai.

After reading is it or ain’t it haiku?, you should be able to readily distinguish a

fine example of senryu from two excellent examples of haiku out of this trio of

poems by Honored Guest W.F. Owen:

single again

soap bar slivers

mashed together

 

 

 

 

 

fading light
rain overflows
the gutter

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

spring thunder
slight cracks in the
swollen tree buds

 

 W.F. Owen 

“single again” -  frogpond XXVIII: 2 (2005)    

“fading light” - tinywords (Feb. 10, 2005)

“spring thunder” - Mainichi Daily News  (May 7, 2005) 

 

 

 

 

• 
  
  from dagosan  

strangers on

  my park bench . . . . . . . . . . . . from over here

                                                   a whole new river

 

 [May 31, 2005]

Speaking of making distinctions:  I am pleased to see that when

Australian lawyers look for alternatives to hourly billing, they

understand that clients wants lower fees and more efficiency from

alternative billing methods  — not higher fees masquerading under

the banner of “value billing“.  (”Lawyers Weekly [AU], “Lawyers

considering alternative billing,” June 1, 2005).

 

   My buddy Carolyn Elefant loves to urge lawyers to hang

a shingle and go solo (or micro).  What I would like to see are some stats

or studies on the financial realities of going solo:  How long can it take

to actually make a living?  What are the demographics of those who

survive (do they have high-salaried spouses? particular specialties?

other sources of income?  an existing porfolio of clients?).    What is

the median income after 5 years as a solo?   How many of those able

to make a comfortable living are working more hours not less than in

their big-firm jobs?

 

  Thanks to Overlawyered.com for staying on top of the Ford Explorer

“tainted juror” story, featuring Texas lawyer Jesse Gamez, his romantic pal

on the jury, and a $28 million roll-over verdict.  A Texas judge rejected

Ford’s demand for a new trial.  (See Law.com, May 27, 2005). 

 

Please have a thoughtful and grateful Memorial Day:

 

 

 

old tombstone
losing its name
faint first star

 

        George Swede 

          from The Heron’s Nest 

 

 

 

 

missing in action

she dusts off his guitar,

returns it to the shelf

 

       Randy Brooks

          from WHR Vintage Haiku

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

strewn driftwood

a boy asking

about his father

paul m.

from A New Resonance 2

 

 

 

 

war footage

on this plump green olive

a thin, brittle stem

 

              Ed Markowski 

               from Haiku Sun 

 

 

 

Memorial Day-
overwintered in the sandbox
             toy soldiers

 

             Tom Clausen

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

peace rally

a forgotten scar

starts to itch

 

          Tom Painting   

             from tug of the current

 

 

 

 

news of his death

the cigarette smoke rises

straight up

                        DeVar Dahl from New Resonance 3

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

their gravestones

hers newer and taller

than his

 

        George Swede from Almost Unseen

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

fireworks

I close my eyes

for a second look

 

     John Stevenson from TAO

 

 

 

 

 

 

vietman

               memorial —

the protestor’s reflection

 

             dagosan  [May 30, 2005]

 

 

 

 

  potluck

The Fool in the Forest remembers the Civil War dead and

presents an Emily Dickinson poem that begins:

It feels a shame to be Alive –
When Men so brave — are dead –
One envies the Distinguished Dust –
Permitted — such a Head –

. . .  his haku keep working for you

his senryu, too

 

 

 

the butterfly’s path …
my son swings again
    and misses

 

 

 

my wife admits
she is not perfect,
but is glad I am

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

in the empty room
I look around to remember why
I’m here

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

in the shower
an economy size bar of soap
lands on my toe

 

 

 

Tom Clausen from Homework (Snapshot Press 2000)

order it here.

 

 

 

• 
  
  from dagosan  

 

complaining all day

about the rain –

the mosquitos and I

 [May 29, 2005]

 

 

potluck

  Last night, in the rural outskirts of Schenectady, I met an intelligent

person who insisted (despite my defense of the American civil justice system) that

the Winnebago-Cruise-Control-$1.75-million verdict really happened.  Luckily, I

knew that Walter would know — and he set me straight:  It’s an untrue Urban Legend. 

As Mr. Olson says:

“What we wonder is, why would people want to compile lists of made-up

legal bizarreries when they can find a vast stockpile of all-too-real ones just

by visiting this website [and in particular its personal responsibility archives,

older and newer series]?”

 

  Prof. B makes the C List.  [I’m still not leaving a tip.]  Again turning necessity

into a virtue, Prof. Y shuns celebrity status (after scouring the List), and agrees with

Instapundit. 

 

 

unofficial start
of summer –
parkas huddled ’round the grill

dagosan [May 29, 2005]

potluck

shoeless in schenectady: Our curmudgeonly columnist Carl Strock, admits he was quite surprised this week. You see, the U.S. Justice Department has decided not to prosecute two ex-Schenectady cops for violating the civil rights of David Sampson in July, 1999. Strock asks: “How could anyone in his right mind conclude that what the cops did was not a violation of someone’s civil rights?” (Sunday Gazette [Schenectady, NY], “Ex-cops get weird break from feds,” May 29, 2005, B1, $ubscr., but see reprint at Reply 3, and related articles, at the Schenectady Info website).

 

spring breeze–
three ride the same horse
home

………………………………………….. by Kobayashi ISSA, translated by D. G. Lanoue

Srock may have a point:

• The police officers — Richard Barnett and Michael Siler, who are white — “picked up this guy they knew to be a shady character, David Sampson, who wasn’t doing anything illegal at the time, drove him eight miles out of the city to rural Rector Road in Glenville, at night, and dumped him there shoeless to fend for himself.” Sampson, who is black, says they also roughed him up and tossed his Timberland boots into the woods.

• In a deposition, Barnett has admitted taking Sampson that night to the secluded road, but denied the “roughing up.” Barnett and other local cops also admitted that police officers practiced a “relocation policy” of leaving perceived troublemakers outside the city limits, with the approval of SPD management. (see Albany [NY] Times Union, Claim against ex-cops rejected, May 26, 2005; and SchdyInfo.com)

 

Don’t think badly of Schenectady, though. Its former Corporation Counsel Michael Brockbank told WTEN news (May 26, 2005) he believes what the officers did was not the best thing, but it was not done arbitrarily. Brockbank noted that the two officers, after an investigation sparked by Sampson’s allegations in 1999, were convicted of drug-related offenses. “It clearly shows the type of officers they were, willing to take a cowboy action and that caught up with them.” Thus, according to WTEN, “Brockbank said neither the federal investigation, nor the convictions, should lead people to believe the police department targeted certain communities.”

don’t cry, geese!
from now on
I’m a traveler too

 

……………………….. by Kobayashi ISSA, translated by D. G. Lanoue

 

I’m no civil rights lawyer. I wonder if Mike or Norm at Crime & Federalism can tell me: Is it okay to violate someone’s civil in the same situation?

tolerant in schenectady?: Last Monday, May 23, the traditional invocation prayer before the City Council’s public meeting was given by a Muslim Iman, Faisal Ahmad. When the Iman then started asking the Council for help getting visas for Afghanis, a member of the public stood up and said “There’s a war going on. It’s in very bad taste. We have veterans here and we’re listening to his prayer. Shame on us all!” Now, I disagree that a Muslim prayer is less appropriate than that of other religion’s, if there is any prayer at all at Council Meetings (I vote “no prayers.”) Still, I am taken aback by what happened in reaction to the outburst:

Four days later, more than a dozen religious leaders held a press event in City Hall, with the mayor and other City officials participating. They read and passed out A Statement of Concern and Witness urging citizens to celebrate and practice diversity and to practice tolerance. The text of the Statement begins by saying it is in response to the citizen’s words at the Council Meeting — naming and quoting her and saying they “have concern” for her. This seems a bit of an over-reaction to one person’s stating an opinion — and seems very likely to deter the expression of any but the “correct” opinions at Council meetings. (Daily Gazette, “Religious leaders call for tolerance,” May 28, 2005, $$, but see SchdyInfo reprints, including Reply 1; and Capital News9, “Meeting of religious leaders,”
May 27, 2005). Note:

• The rebuked citizen is Karin Maioriello, who has a son in the military serving overseas. She stands by her words: “I object . . .because it was Memorial Day and I think it was in bad taste.”
• No member of the Muslim faith attended the press conference, although Iman Ahmad sent a statement, which was read.
  

 

Little Italy Gateway [original image here]

Chutzpah in Little Italy: I forgot to report that I attended the official dedication last Saturday, May 21, 2005, of the Little Italy “Gateway” on N. Jay Street in Schenectady. My skepticism over local efforts to create a Little Italy where none was apparent was covered here at f/k/a in March - schmittle Italy. Nonetheless, I wanted to see if there’s been any progress — beyond the new $900,000 “streetscape” [sidwalks, bricks] and gateway monument. The politicians at the dedication thanked a lot of people and talked about our “tourist attraction,” but I saw nothing to brag about, even after walking both sides of the entire one-block Italian heritage district. It still has lots of boarded up windows [with unpainted plywood] and not one building that anyone I can think of would call charming. After five years of planning and effort, Schenectady’s Little Italy continues to consist of one restaurant (lured there with a large development finance package), one bakery, and one tiny spumoni/sandwich shop.

 

• It’s gonna get worse: Civitello’s Spumoni Shoppe is about to move from the so-caled Little Italy to a more “high-profile location” outside of Schenectady. A co-owner says, “Nothing’s changed, except the sidewalks are beautiful.” (”Sch’dy, Troy promote Little Italy districts to renew inner city life,” Albany BizJournal, Dec. 10, 2004).

   

• Also, there’s the problem that the City of Troy has a real Little Italy (see Little Italy Troy.com), comprising an entire intact neighborhood, with resaturants, specialty shops, Italian markets, bocce courts, and great architecture nearby. It is only 14 miles away. Not to mention New York City down the road.

• You know, the traditional Italian alphabet has no “j”. What we think of as the “j” sound is made with the letters “gi” — a “soft g” as in your Editor’s surname. I’m not sure if it is dimly ironic or brilliantly coincidental, therefore, that our Schenectady Little Italy is located on “No. Jay St.”

Not Mi Familia: Given my belief that most urban economic development is a sad display of poor planning and a misuse of public funds, please nota bene that, to the very best of my knowledge, I am not related to this Giacalone, who was accused this month of stealing $1.1 million in business development loans from downtrodden Flint, Michigan.

I need to give Schenectady lawyer Michael Braccini a call, to see if having a bus for a law office is working out for him. I saw the bus for the first time yesterday, in the parking lot of the Domino’s Pizza shop on Broadway. The bus is painted blue and white. The message “Law Office of Michael Braccini” is painted near the top of the bus. At the door, it reads “Legal Advice,” “Enter Here,” and “No appoinment necessary.” Elsewhere, you’re told “Any Question, Any Time,” and numerous practice areas are listed: Bankruptcy, DWI, Misdemeanors and Felonies, Personal Injury” and more. The phone number on the bus is no longer in service. In the telephone book, Braccini’s address is identical to the pizza shop’s address. Maybe there’s also an office in the small building — midnight on a Saturday night was not a good time to investigate. There must be a good story here, and I hope to give you more details soon.

plum blooming–
muddy straw sandals
and a sake cup

 

cloudburst–
hanging over the village
that doesn’t pray

ISSA, translated by David G. Lanoue

..

I haven’t had law school homework for almost thirty years — and I sure didn’t

plan on doing any over Memorial Day Weekend.  But, our favorite supplicant,

Professor Bainbridge, left me an assignment.  If it’s not optional, it better be

extra-credit.

 

  Steve and Sam and the gang are probably already tooling down a

West Coast highway, in search of gourmet food and fine wine, secure in the

knowledge that Bainbridge fanatics are filling that e-tip jar and clicking through

on all those weblog ads.  Meanwhile, I’m looking at microwave popcorn and a

$4 bottle of Chilean merlot bottled in Slovenia for my evening.

 

Hopefully, in a world where law professors are making the rules, recycling your

own work doesn’t count as plagiarism.   So, my research will start here:

• me and my “pal” professor B 
  
• tears for the mendicant professor 
  
• getting kinky — a cuban cigar and Prof. B

After that, I’ve got to hope inspiration strikes and that Steve’s an easy-grader — he

does get good student evaluations, doesn’t he?

 

begging at my gate
the geese lose
weight

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

a beggar child

walking and flying

a kite

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

even the beggar

has a favorite

wrestler

 

 

 

Kobayashi Issa, translated by D.G.Lanoue       

 

 

• 
  
  from dagosan  

 

holidaytrafficjam

– goslings    goose     gander

glide downstream

 

 

 

 

staring at the dessert cart –

four lovely coeds

at the next table

 

  Click here for a photo of dagosan and his inspiration, Mama.G,

taken Mother’s Day 2005. 

 

                             [May 27, 2005]

 

 

potluck

  Walter Olson seems to be promising he’ll give us “every jot and tittle“

about the “destructive craziness the trial lawyers are up to.”   That sent

me to my dictionary, where I learned that the noun “jot” comes from

the Greek word iota and means an “i” (thus, the tiniest letter).  Meanwhile,

a “tittle” is the dot over an “i”.  Walter, I like your website, but I’d settle

for just the m-’n'-m’s of litigiousness. 

 

  George Wallace wonders whether the ’60’s are now officially over.  See why.

 

                                                                                                                                                             

When it comes to crafting excellent haiku, all poetics are local. No one knows

that better than Yu Chang, whose work demonstrates the in-person, in-the-moment,

concreteness that is the essence of fine haiku.

 

Another kind of “localness” was especially serendipitous for me: last year, I learned

that the Yu Chang whose haiku I ‘ve been admiring for years spends much of his time

less than a mile from my home, as a professor of electrical engineering at Union College.

He and I share Schenectady, New York, as our adopted City.

• It was also inspiring to learn that Yu — like myself — started writing haiku in

  his 50’s. Unlike myself, however, he was winning international haiku

  contests within a year of penning his first haiku. Maybe Yu’s haiku muse

  will make a detour to my neighborhood once in a while, and help me learn,

  from his example, the art and craft of the haijin.

Everyone who knows Yu comments on his sense of humor and his modesty. Both

can be seen in his haiku (where he allows the reader to take his place experiencing

the haiku moment) and in his freqent expressions of gratitude for the generosity and

encouragement of his friends at the online Shiki Internet Haiku Salon.

 

“streetsigns” Yu’s haiku have won numerous awards, and his poetry appears in the journals

and anthologies to which all English-language haiku poets aspire: Acorn, Frogpond,

Hermitage, Modern Haiku, The Heron’s Nest, and Tundra. At present, he is active

as a founding member of the Route 9 Haiku Group, which publishes the biannual

journal, Upstate Dim Sum. The Route 9ers are Yu, Hilary Tann, and our honored

guests John Stevenson and Tom Clausen.

 

You can learn much more about Yu Chang as a haiku poet in an AHAPoetry profile,

written in 2001. I’m sure Yu will groan when he sees this sentence, but I agree with

the Profile’s author, Ty Hadman, that “Yu Chang is one of the poets currently writing

haiku that are not only being appreciated today but will also be added to that treasure

chest of haiku classics in English to be preserved for future generations.”

 

Choosing introductory haiku from Yu’s entire body of work is too difficult, so I will limit the
source today to the first collection that I found of his work, which was in A New Resonance:
Emerging Voices in English-Language Haiku (Ed. by Jim Kacian and Dee Evetts, Red
Moon Press, 1999):

warm rain
the spring moon returns
to the rusty can

starry night–
biting into a melon
full of seeds

parting her pink robe
–daybreak

pebbled beach–
how carefully she chooses
her words

Yu Chang, from A New Resonance (1999).

“warm rain” first appeared in Frogpond XXI:1

“pebbled beach” first appeared in Acorn 2

“starry night” won a Museum of Haiku Literature Award 1998

Feel like summer yet where you live?  We’ve got Blackberry Winter in

Upstate New York.  I wonder if Alice Frampton is enjoying her first Spring

in Alaska.

 

 

 

 

overcast morning–

ripe blackberries

out of reach

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

morning milking

the white

of mother’s breast

 

 

 

  

 

snow-covered hives

miles to go

for groceries

 

 

 Alice Frampton

“snow-covered hives” from frogpond (XXVIII: 2, 2005)       

“overcast morning” from New Resonance 3: Emerging Voices

“morning milking” from New Resonance 3; Haiku Canada Newsletter XVI:3

 

 

  Risky Practices:  Just in time for your Memorial Day weekend trip,

our favorite RiskProf points to a GMAC study suggesting 20 million

Americans “lack basic knowledge of rules of the road and safe automobile

operation.”  Of course, the scariest part is that we all knew that.  I was

a bit surprised that drivers 18-24 were more likely to fail a written

driving test than drivers 55-64 (who last took the test thirty to fifty

years ago).  

 

  Spam-Smug No More: I’ve always wondered what others are

doing so wrong that they keep complaining about email In Boxes filled with spam.

I figured my email hygienne must simply be better than most, as I only got one or

two spam messages a month for years now.  Well, the past few weeks, every hapless

Nigerian, every phony PayPal phisher, and every good-newsy Lottery official on the

planet, has written to me several times a day.  It is really annoying!

 

 

As part of my anniversary contemplations today, I have pondered whether to

take the slashes out of the name of this weblog — changing “f/k/a” to “fka.”

I have at times complained about a few other weblogs that use punctuation

marks and other non-alphabetic symbols in their names (this site, I am happy to

say, is now parentheses-free in its masthead).

 

My deliberations were short, however.  Although both f/k/a and fka have        / / / . .

been used to denote “formerly known as,” I am definitely keeping “f/k/a,”

because:

• 
  
  
  

  it is the preferred and customary legal usage, and the

  
  

  original form of this handy term (being born in an era

  
  

  era that was far less addicted to acronyms)
  
  
• 
  
  
  

  
  

  it was first chosen by me precisely so that I would stop

  
  

  changing the name of the website
  
  
• 
  
  
  

  
  

  
  

  it does not cause confusion between us and Australia’s

  
  

  Free Kindergarten Association