Book Review: Borrowed Water - A Book of American Haiku by the Los Altos Writers Roundtable

 

Borrowed Water: A Book of American Haiku

by the Los Altos Writers Roundtable

I’ve enjoyed writing haiku myself. I’m no expert but I’ve received a compliment or two on them. My (very) basic understanding is that they should be three lines, with five syllables in the first and third line, and seven syllables in the middle. I find them fascinating to write, the way that you have to achieve a complete concept in just seventeen syllables.

My understanding is that the traditional haiku uses an observation about nature in the first two lines then takes a turn in the third line that connects it to humanity. Of course, there are now many haiku that play with the rules or have different rules.

The introduction explains that hokku and haiku are used interchangeably in Japan. It further explains that sometimes there is a rhythm, though not always, and no rhyme. The idea of observation and meditation to produce good haiku is in keeping with a sort of meditation.

They also speak of “restrictions on content, its seasonal implication, its balancing images, its naturalness of expression, its dependence on ‘effect’ rather than intellectual ‘point’.”

I think that makes them, in a way, easier to read than other poetry. You don’t have to sit there and ponder what the writer meant. You allow the image to arise in your mind as you read. Contemplate it if you wish. Allow associations to develop in your mind. Then you can move on.

Haiku is a Japanese poetic tradition but this book addresses the American landscape. Organized into the four seasons with a section of “Miscellaneous” at the end, it’s a small volume on thick paper, a different color of paper for each section.

This book was published in 1966, and it shows in some of the content – in small dogs searching faces marching by and letters not received that month.

Others capture timeless moments in gardens. The most interesting section is the miscellaneous one, where the writers capture more unique experiences and images, like “childhood returns / on crisp ginger-snap wings.”

All in all, it is an interesting collection of varied impressions, worth pondering.