A world of dew,
and within every dewdrop
a world of struggle
-- Issa
From what I've seen and who I've met, many come to haiku not through other poetry forms, but through their spiritual tendencies.
It tends to be a spiritual practice where practitioners nourish each other, not driven by antisocial behavior and glorified eccentricities.
This is not to knock the poetry world at large, to which I also belong, just something worth noting. There is a real competitivness between poets, whether they are competing for faculty positions, retreat openings, writing program slots or even just fighting to fit in with the rest of society.
Haiku poets don't have those resources to fight for and generally focus their art on "the big picture."
and within every dewdrop
a world of struggle
-- Issa
From what I've seen and who I've met, many come to haiku not through other poetry forms, but through their spiritual tendencies.
It tends to be a spiritual practice where practitioners nourish each other, not driven by antisocial behavior and glorified eccentricities.
This is not to knock the poetry world at large, to which I also belong, just something worth noting. There is a real competitivness between poets, whether they are competing for faculty positions, retreat openings, writing program slots or even just fighting to fit in with the rest of society.
Haiku poets don't have those resources to fight for and generally focus their art on "the big picture."
The Role of Society in the Artist
Society sent me this invitation to go to
hell and
delighted not to be overlooked I thought
I could make arrangements to accommodate
it and went off
where, however, I
did the burning by myself, developing
fortunately some fairly thick shields
against blazing and some games
one of which was verse by which I used
illusion to put the flames out,
turning flares into mirrors
of seeming: society
attracted to this bedazzlement wanted me
to acknowledge how it had been
largely responsible and I said oh yes it gave
me the language by which to send me
clear invitations and society
designated me of social value and lifted me
out of hell so I could better share
paradisal paradigms with it
and it said isn't it generous
of society to let you walk here
far from hell---society does this because
it likes your keen sense of acquired sight
& word: how wonderful of you to say so, I said,
and took some of whatever was being
passed around but every night went out
into the forest to spew fire
that blazoned tree trunks and set
stumps afire and society found me out there
& warmed itself and said it liked my unconventional
verses best & I invited society to go to hell
-- A.R. Ammons
Society sent me this invitation to go to
hell and
delighted not to be overlooked I thought
I could make arrangements to accommodate
it and went off
where, however, I
did the burning by myself, developing
fortunately some fairly thick shields
against blazing and some games
one of which was verse by which I used
illusion to put the flames out,
turning flares into mirrors
of seeming: society
attracted to this bedazzlement wanted me
to acknowledge how it had been
largely responsible and I said oh yes it gave
me the language by which to send me
clear invitations and society
designated me of social value and lifted me
out of hell so I could better share
paradisal paradigms with it
and it said isn't it generous
of society to let you walk here
far from hell---society does this because
it likes your keen sense of acquired sight
& word: how wonderful of you to say so, I said,
and took some of whatever was being
passed around but every night went out
into the forest to spew fire
that blazoned tree trunks and set
stumps afire and society found me out there
& warmed itself and said it liked my unconventional
verses best & I invited society to go to hell
-- A.R. Ammons
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