f/k/a archives . . . real opinions & real haiku

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. 

 

 

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.

 

                                                                                                                                                             

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

What cinched the retention of f/k/a, however, was my Googling of

of the term “fka”.   Among the first few results was an organization 

known as The Federation and Klingon Alliance.  Sorry, but Walter

Olson is more likely to call his site ATLA: Arrest Them Lawyers

Association, than I am to share an acronmyn with the dudes at

FKA.  (see this post)

 

 

Just about everybody who’s anybody has already had his or her

2nd (or third) weblog anniversary.  Nonetheless, I can’t let May 26th

pass without noting that:

• two years ago today, the first ethicalEsq post appeared
• one year ago today, f/k/a was born, with haikuEsq taking

  over as Editor, and Prof. Yabut forced into emeritus status

  (a new no-punditry policy was also announced, but temptation

  soon proved too great; see About)

Last May 26th, we even made a good faith attempt to join in the spirit of

the Annual Grump Out.  Happily, no one told us they moved the event to

May 25 for 2005, and we inadvertently missed it. Despite any zen-ny haiku

pretensions, we’re still card-carrying members of Curmudgeons-R-Us.

I don’t know whether weblogging is caused by a gene or a virus, but

I surely have the malady.  I’m grateful the technology came about at a time when I

was searching for a way to be productive (despite health problems), and when

I had a lot that I wanted to say about the legal profession and about the wonders

of haiku.  A couple dozen regular visitors would have kept me going, but I’m

most grateful to have many times that number.  Similarly, finding a couple of

great haiku poets to share with you would have felt like quite an accomplish-

ment — but, as of this week, there are two dozen of the best English-language

haijin appearing here everyday and archived for repeat enjoyment.

crawl and laugh–
from this morning on
a two year old!

Kobayashi ISSA,

translated by David G. Lanoue

Our terrible two’s will bring you more of the same (hopefully, without tantrums), 

and we may even have a few new tricks. Thanks again to all the search engine

folk who make it easy for inquisitive strangers to find our unique blend of legal

ethics, potluck punditry and haiku advocacy.  Thanks to my weblog colleagues

who give me their inspiration and their links.  (especially you, you, you, you, you,

as well as you, and you — plus others too numerous to mention at 3 AM). Most

of all, thanks to our guest poets and to our loyal visitors (especially the handful

of frequent commentors) for making the f/k/a-ethicalEsq experience so rewarding

for Your Editor and all the alter egos who inhabit this space.

. . and one for good luck!

Tom Clausen has been a Haiku Advocate for a lot longer than haikuEsq.   Circa 1990,

the Cornell librarian and lifelong Ithacan started posting a daily haiku in the stacks

elevator where he worked (see Cornell Chronicle, “In Mann Library, the graffiti is poetic,

thanks to one man,” March 14, 1996).  After a decade of elevator haiku, Tom started

placing his daily offering (by an extended community of haijin friends) at the Main Door

of the Mann Library Addition.  Those who can’t be there in person, can find Tom’s daily

haiku by clicking a link on the home page of the Library’s website.

 

  Tom’s also been co-editor of the esteemed Red Moon Anthology of English

Language Haiku since its launching in 1996.  More important for our purposes, however,

Tom has been writing haiku since the late 1980’s.  Thanks to his generous spirit, visitors to

this site will be able to see and feel for themselves why his work has been recognized and

highly respected for more than a dozen years.

 

I connect with Tom’s haiku (and other short poetry, such as tanka) because his attitude

toward life’s vicissitudes seems to be much like mine.  The Red Moon Anthology says

that Tom Clausen “half accepts change yet is always grateful for the constancy of nature,

the seasons and haiku celebrating them.” In his essay “America’s Haiku Future,” Cor van

den Heuvel (Autumn 2003) notes:

“Though he treats the ups and downs of marriage and being a parent,

his experience seems to have been that the ups seem to make up for

the downs.”

Tom gives us a glimpse into his haiku ethos in the essay From Conflict to Poetry, which

appears in the newest edition of Simply Haiku (Summer 2005, vol. 3, #2): 

“Haiku is the perfect worry stone. In my life I have found considerable

solace in being able to write about my personal conflicts, moments where

I felt moved to pause, reflect, regroup and recognize that even in conflict

and distress are silver linings and the potential for poetry that each of us

can find in our heart . . . and in turn move on from our conflict through the

poetry we create from it.”

If you want to learn more about Tom and his poetry, I suggest the student papers   

done at Millikin University by Michelle Ground and Matt Whitsett.  As with all my

honored guests, of course, reading 17 syllables or less written by Tom is far more

telling than reading hundreds of words about his haiku.  So, I recommend that you

check out samples from Tom’s chapbook Homework, found at the foot of his Simply

Haiku Conflict essay (you can order the book here, from Snapshot Press), and that

you enjoy another sampling of his work on the TAO website, along with selections

from Upstate Dim Sum, a journal created by the exclusive Route 9 Haiku Group. 

 

First, however, I am most pleased to present a few of Tom Clausen’s haiku from 

frogpond, the Journal of the Haiku Society of America:

 

left and right

he follows the way

of his kicked stone

 

 

 

old farmhouse–

the pitch of the

patterned linoleum

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

having brushed off

several large ants

an extra large one . . .

 

 

 

 

Halloween–

to a simple question

my life story

 

 

 

 

 

        Tom Clausen from frogpond (XXVII, 2004)                                                                

 

 

No matter what the Senate filibuster compromise today may mean, one thing is very

nu-clear to me: “nuclear option” belongs on the Banished Words List.  So, join

Ellen Goodman and myself by nominating it for the LSSU 2006 List.  But, please,

let’s not wait for January 1st.  Let’s stop using the silly phrase outside of the strategic

war context right now (that means you, too). 

 

  Unclear option?  Unclear analogies?  As Emily and Essie Litella would

say, “Never mind.”

 

 

 

 

between Pompey

and Caesar

I place my bookmark

 

May morning

the door opens

before I knock

 

on top of everything

                              rain

 

 

 

 

 John Stevenson from Some of the Silence  (Red Moon Press,1999) 

None of my favorite fictional detectives believes much in coincidence as

an explanation when one event looks suspiciously related to another.  But,

I’ll let you decide whether my Comments here on Feb. 14, 2005 are related  

to what happened there on Feb. 15, 2005.

 

Details:  On February 14th, Bob Ambrogi wrote that he had just discovered

Blawg Republic.   In response, my alter ego Prof. Yabut left this Comment:

“A lot of us had positive things to say about Blawg Republic

when Denise Howell first pointed us to it on Sept. 30th. However,

Blawg Republic stopped being useful after only a couple weeks in

existence, when it switched from listing the latest posts from the

most popular law weblogs to having its very limited Top Blawg Posts.

Now, you can get on their top-20 list by merely linking to one of your

own past posts (a trick used by many weblawggers, who garner much

of the page at a time). The Top 20 list neither tells you who did the

linking (so you can’t readily check whether the pointer was pro or con)

nor when the listed post originated. Now, there’s really no reason to

check this page very often.”

 

Agreeing with Prof. Yabut on the “past post problem,” Evan Schaeffer opined

that Blawg Review drove him “batty,” and noted “It seems like the fix would

be simple, but so far, no fix.”

 

In response, Merrick Lozano, Co-founder of Blawg Republic, did a little self-

censoring that day, removing his first comment at LawSites (would love to know

what it said).  Merrick then left a Response that concluded:

“Thank you for the feedback in this comments section. We are

looking into the past post link problem described by prof yabut

and evan (www.blawgrepublic.com/blog/) as soon as we resolve it.”

I can’t tell whether the “past post link” problem has been solved. [I had, in fact,

mentioned it at this weblog in mid-Nov. 2004.]  However, something was “fixed”

for sure:  The freshest post listed on the Blawg Republic page for Legal Ethics News 

(which has only tracked one site in that category — f/k/a) is the following:

sorry, pardner . . .

f/k/a . . . – February 15, 2005

. . . but, maybe we’re not both covered.  The fight over

f/k/a: Frozen in time as of Feb. 15, 2005.  Must be a coincidence.

 

update (June 17, 2005): Yesterday, I followed a Referral link to this website from

BR and discovered that only the name f/k/a and our former tagline now exist

on the BR Legal Ethics Page.  Them coincidences keep buildin’ up, don’t they?

 

most end up
stuck in mud…
cherry blossoms

 

ISSA , D.L. Lanoue, translator

After first praising unequivocally Scheherazade’s list of “Legal Lies” that purportedly

lure lambs into the Law, and then reading my Response, Yeoman did quite a bit of soul-searching

and has an important discussion on Mistaking Personal Unsuitability for Systemic Problems

in the legal profession.  

 

  If you’re going to impose an immense fine on a judge for election misconduct, why not  “noyabutsS”

remove him or her from office?  That’s what Justice Lewis asked again in a Florida Supreme Court 

case thatwas decided May 12, 2005.   Inquiry Concerning a Judge, re:  Ana Marie Pando, ___

So.2d ___ (Fla., No. SC04-1636).  Justice Lewis had a full — and, I believe persuasive — discussion 

on this topic in In re Kinsey, 842 So.2d 77 (from p. 38, Fla. 2003) (via sunEthics, May 23, 2005)

 

Paul Horwitz gives a litany of reasons “why he writes” at Prawfs Blog.  Compare it

with your own reasons. (via Is That Legal?)   On a related topic, the Berkman Blog group is holding

a seminar on June 2 on Why Do You Blog?, moderated Michael Feldman of Dowbrigade News.  If

you’re gonna be in Cambridge, Mass., you might want to stop by.

 

 

• 
  
  from dagosan  

untoasted today —

slowly chewing

whole wheat bread

 

                              [May 23, 2005]

Matt Miller asks whether “luck” or “individual effort” matters most “in determining

where people end up in life.”  He notes that both Democrats and Independents

overwhelming said luck in a survey he commissioned, while Republicans said it’s

effort.  (NYT, Taking Luck Seriously, May 21, 2005).  Miller states:

“Try too hard to wipe out the inequities spawned by luck, and you

banish luck’s societal benefits and go down the road of communism.

But harness a healthy awe for luck, and you expand the bounds of

empathy in ways that make a living wage for poor workers and great

schools for poor children national imperatives. What we’re led to is the

public agenda missing today, built around passionate commitments –

by both liberals and conservatives – to (1) equal opportunity and (2) a

minimally decent life, achieved in ways that harness market forces for

public purposes.”

  If Republicans won’t act on these moral imperatives, Miller thinks Democrats

should take luck seriously — making America more just by forging a victory

based on “values that can win.”   

horseflies’ and bees’
big lucky day…
blossom-filled temple

 

 

donning my umbrella-hat–
cherry blossoms portend
a lucky day

 

Kobayashi ISSA,

translated by David G. Lanoue 

 

  Your editor apologizes for all the webserver problems that have made

accessing f/k/a so difficult the past few days.  I’m afraid that no amount of effort on

my part will solve the problem.  Pray to the great Webmaster in the sky.

supplemental (midnight, May 24):  Sarni at Infernality chewed over and posted her Stick.

She has some interesting choices and — being into fanstasy literature — alternative  

Stick universes.  Talk about generation gap: not one of our choices matched.  Not one

of our genres, either.  I’m again surprised that so many people re-read books.  Has there

been a study about personalities that re-read books or watch particular movies or tv

episodes repeatedly (as adults reading for themselves, and not for children) as compared

to those who are one-off-ers?  [Note my Britsy idiom.]   I spent years recording hundreds

of movies (for personal use, of course) and have not watched even one of them in the

past five years.  I’m glad to see that Sarni feels no need for lugging a How-to-Survive-in-

the-Wilderness book.  That’s probably part of the basic curriculum in Aussie elementary

school — Walkabout Ed.   Stop over to Infernality and see Sarni’s Stick and shtick.  Thanks

for shaking and sharing your Stick, Ms. S!! 

 

“tinyredcheck”  I feel lucky today: two of my favorite haiku poets agreed over the

weekend to be Honored Guests here at f/k/a:  Tom Clausen of Ithaca, NY, and

Yu Chang of Schenectady, NY.   I will be formally introducing each of them this

week, but you’ve worked hard (or are just lucky) and deserve a double sneak

preview — with haiku and senryu by Tom and Yu from the latest issue of frogpond,

the Journal of the Haiku Society of America.

 

from Tom Clausen:

just oatmeal

the waitress says

“enjoy”

 

 

 

 

out of its reflecting pool

      the windblown

          fountain

 

 

 

 

from Yu Chang:

 

pumpkin patch

this one is big enough

for my son

 

 

 

 

taking turns

to stretch their necks

a pair of herons

 

“THNLogoF” “THNLogoG”

 

from dagosan  

 

 

last week of May

unpacking

the winter quilt

 

     [May 23, 2005]

 

 

Wish I Said That:

 

“[FDR’s secretary of war and NYC lawyer] Henry Stimson would have been shocked

and saddened by the state of the bar today, and especially by the common, public,

even proud utterance in and out of bar associations that ‘law is a business like other

businesses.’ . . .

 

“As recently as 1963, Everett Hughes wrote that the central feature of professionalism

was a doctrine of credat emptor—”let the buyer trust”—rather than the commercial

maxim of caveat emptor—”let the buyer beware.” Society counts on the law, and on

lawyers as its servants, to spread such feelings of trust through the community. Instead,

too often, we help weaken them.”

– from Living the Law, Chapt 1. of Sol Linowitz’s The Betrayed Profession (at pp. 2 & 5;

1994), reprinted here (DCBA Brief, June 1999)

 

 

 

first snow falling
I trust in his hand…
bridge by the gate

 

 

 

entrusting the thicket
to the field crow…
the lark sings

ISSA, translated by David G. Lanoue