'Straight From the Haijin's Mouth' is one of the features that makes up my haikai column in a fine
line, The Magazine of the New Zealand Poetry. This edition is from the January 2012 issue, and is reprinted with the kind permission of Laurice
Gilbert, Catherine Mair and Patricia Prime.
Straight
From the Haijin's Mouth
I asked long time friends and poetry writing buddies
Catherine Mair and Patricia Prime, 'Where has your reading and
writing of haiku taken you over the years?'
Catherine Mair's answer:
It
was the late 1980s and I had just started writing poetry. Because of
the economical, rural/nature content it was suggested that I might
find an affinity with haiku.
I'd never heard of haiku. Upon
expressing my ignorance I was sent a few notes on the basics of this
genre. In 1993 the first New Zealand Haiku Anthology included five of
my haiku and the second Anthology (1998) included a number more. My
interest in haiku lead me on a number of journeys the most far flung
being a jaunt to Romania for a haiku conference hosted by Ion
Codrescu. Picton was another very enjoyable destination.
The succinct way of haiku suits my
natural brevity and because of a busy lifestyle the idea of so much
in so little really appealed to me. Haiku satisfied several leanings.
I'd been very interested in painting but farming in partnership with
my husband and bringing up four children left little time. Over the years I've met some superb
people. Haijin seem to share a relatively humble outlook and an acute
sensitivity to nature, including human nature.
There is something about haiku which is spiritually
satisfying. Something which seems akin to creation.
Patricia Prime's answer:
As
co-editor of the New Zealand haiku journal Kokako
for the past 15 issues, I am privileged to have come to know and
correspond with editors and writers throughout the world. I wrote my
first haiku in the 80s and have submitted work to journals in the
USA, Canada, Australia, Great Britain, India and Ireland. What better
way is there to make friends than through poetry?
Martin Lucas says in the Introduction
to his book Stepping Stones: a way into haiku that “Haiku is
not a descriptive poetry, it is a reflective poetry,
and we need to understand that distinction.” Haiku in its own way
is self-counselling; it is a pleasure to read other people’s work
and to study their methods and it is beneficial to write about one’s
own feelings. Haiku is a form that blends sensitivity with realism,
using simple language and clear images and I hope my poems are
accessible to most readers and that they can identify with them in
some way.
I’ve spent half a lifetime in
Auckland, where I’ve lived, worked, brought up my family and found
poetic inspiration and motivation. I’ve also made trips to China,
Tibet, Macau, Australia and the South Island. These were enchanting
journeys and have since lent themselves to my poetry. Writing haiku
has been a long journey: some haiku had their beginnings long ago,
others are very recent. Old memories supply material for my haiku, as
do places I’ve visited, nature, friendships I’ve made and my
family.
In a spiritual sense haiku can be a release for emotion,
can range from the lyrical to the haunting, or be touched with humour
or sadness. A lightness of tone, memory and imagination, are all part
of the spiritual reality of haiku.
