Thursday, 10th October 2024
Many voices mingled beneath the trees on a sunny spring day, those of the numerous currawongs and magpies claiming dominance over those of human diners. Four of us met over lunch: Kathy Kituai, Marietta McGregor, Glenys Ferguson and Jan Dobb. Our thoughts were with missing friends, Hazel Hall and Greg Piko.
The ensuing hours produced the usual warm blend of personal and poetic interaction. In fact, a brief interaction occurred, too, with a young waiter who expressed interest in our focus and paused to chat further. A nice touch.
Kathy and Marietta had each come with a book for us to ponder. Kathy produced a copy of Paul Hetherington’s Sleeplessness (Pierian Press, 1923), reflections on insomnia between the hours of 3 a.m. and 6 a.m. As we perused it around the table and read pieces aloud, we were intrigued with the format of sequenced poetic fragments which formed ‘a travelogue of waking dreams’ during those hours.
Marietta presented us with Three Blue Beans: Another Year in Haiku (Iron Press,2018) by Hamish Ironside, a poet who is known for writing one haiku a day for a year. His haiku, ranging from traditional to experimental, were read and commented on as this book, too, was passed around the table. Thanks to Kathy and Marietta for an insight into the works of these two poets.
By happy coincidence this led into a friendly, if at times controversial, discussion around different perspectives of haiku. Jan distributed two sheets of haiku by well-known poets, one collection published in 1996 and the other in 2022. How do we read haiku ‘ancient and modern’? What are their similarities and differences? What on earth are rules?
Is personification really such a no-no? How often does a haiku that at first seems ‘just another pretty picture’ come to signify a deeper level as well if we pause to spend time with it?
Another agenda-less haiku gathering has resulted in an embracing journey. Where to next time?
Jan Dobb
Australian Haiku Society 