Crawling Around Haiku

Based on our introductory study in the third week of class, the assemblage of a haiku seems to demand a high level of mental and verbal gymnastics. Simply put, there is a lot said and unsaid in just a few short lines and syllables. Each word carries an emotional meaning, but the thing I found most interesting was the way sound plays a role, too. For example, in Gary Snyder’s haiku, I noticed the use of t’s and k’s…If you “crawl” around inside this poem, you can feel those consonants in your mouth, and they do feel different. I think here, Snyder emphasizes, with less words, the way a great freight truck flies through a quiet, dark desert (Snyder 222).

a great freight truck

lit like a town

through the dark stony desert (Snyder 222).

Imagine if the words were different. Would their punch be the same?

A big heavy truck

As bright as a village

Through the dim dark desert

I know this isn’t a proper haiku, but this helps me see how all the words matter.

Switching gears, the poem that grabbed my attention the most was by Sonia Sanchez. While the other haiku took a bit of time to understand, I immediately got the sense of freedom that I think the author was hoping to convey to the reader.

my bones hang to

gether like pinched dragonflies

shake loose my skin (Sanchez 22).

Right away, when I “crawled” around this poem, I felt my own bones hang together…everyone feels like this, sometimes, right? The word “pinched” also evokes a particular feeling of tired entrapment (Sanchez 222). I wonder what the purpose of the enjambment separating “to — — gether” is, though? I gather that “my bones hang to” and “my bones hang together” have different meanings that I can’t quite place (Sanchez 222). Bones hanging to…that is like hanging in there, which gives us a sense that the speaker is holding on for dear life. But together offers hope…it’s some sort of important change, like a dragonfly shedding their skin or being reborn. The last line, “shake loose my skin” implies freedom (Sanchez 222). I felt the syllables there: Shake. Loose. My. Skin. The speaker is being cut free here, let loose. She is commanding. I think the connection between the words “skin” and “bones” shouldn’t be missed here. I connected them right away. You get the sense the speaker has survived something, and all that remains is skin and bones — but it’s hopeful in its resolve.

Chu, Jean Hyung Yul. “Haiku.” An Exaltation of Forms: Contemporary Poets Celebrate the Diversity of Their Art, Edited by Anne Finch and Kathrine Varnes, U. of Michigan P, 2002, pp. 217–222.

Sanchez, Sonia. “My Bones Hang To.” An Exaltation of Forms: Contemporary Poets Celebrate the Diversity of Their Art, Edited by Anne Finch and Kathrine Varnes, U. of Michigan P, 2002, p. 222.

Snyder, Gary. “A Great Freight Truck.” An Exaltation of Forms: Contemporary Poets Celebrate the Diversity of Their Art, Edited by Anne Finch and Kathrine Varnes, U. of Michigan P, 2002, p. 222.