It's easy to dismiss this haiku as a blip or something that is trying too hard without meaning much. And then you stop to listen, to see and its then that this haiku opens up in a whirl of colour, sounds, smells… Wonderfully evocative. Superbly crafted.
What a wonderful poem Jeff – and what a great selection by the Tinywords editors to pair this haiku after yesterday's. They form something of a diptych, which even further enhances the pleasure.
Jeff, I always enjoy astronomical haiku. Perhaps it is because I live in the southern hemisphere and so my seasons are out of sync with the northerners on this site, but the night sky is there for us all, every day. So I can immediately enter into a poem like this. Ah, the Perseids – an annual meteor shower each August seen as coming from the constellation Perseus. It arises because our planet passes each year through the debris of dust left by a comet (in this case, comet Swift-Tuttle) and peaks around the middle of August. It is a highly anticipated event among amateur skywatchers because it can deliver up to 60 or more meteors every hour. And as well as the simple aesthetic joy of seeing a meteor event in the night sky, enthusiasts count meteors – comparing their counts with friends, and even submitting them to astronomy forums. Which in a sense is something like a haiku party!
But the last line of your poem, Jeff, is charmingly honest. I remember the first night I took my son to see the moons of Jupiter through a small telescope, and we were eaten alive by mosquitoes. He remembers both – the thrill of seeing the Jovian moons for the first time, and the mosquitoes!
Which is a wonderful truth which you remind us of: in every beauty, with every delight – comes some small death.
There is something magical about the brevity of such a poem and how it opens up to let the mind wander. This is why I think it's so important to read haiku slowly, to give it time to leave its impression. Absolutely lovely. :)
Education is an effort of successful and prosperous life. Education make lives complete. Education makes our character strong. Education provides hope and peace in society. Educated people never disappointed from life. They sort out problems in logical and reasonable ways and soon get out from hardships.
September 18th, 2014 at 11:23 am
It never ceases to amaze me how much a haiku can do.
Perseids
counting
mosquitoes
—JEFF HOAGLAND
Hoagland takes it further, just three words and yet I get so much atmosphere and story from this.
A lot of haiku would make for incredible starting lines in a novel. Even these three words, too.
Wonderful stuff, thank you!
warm regards,
Alan
September 18th, 2014 at 12:16 pm
Perseids
counting
mosquitoes
It's easy to dismiss this haiku as a blip or something that is trying too hard without meaning much. And then you stop to listen, to see and its then that this haiku opens up in a whirl of colour, sounds, smells… Wonderfully evocative. Superbly crafted.
September 18th, 2014 at 2:31 pm
I love it! About as tiny as one can get – 3 words – yet full of multiple readings.
September 18th, 2014 at 3:03 pm
What a wonderful poem Jeff – and what a great selection by the Tinywords editors to pair this haiku after yesterday's. They form something of a diptych, which even further enhances the pleasure.
Jeff, I always enjoy astronomical haiku. Perhaps it is because I live in the southern hemisphere and so my seasons are out of sync with the northerners on this site, but the night sky is there for us all, every day. So I can immediately enter into a poem like this. Ah, the Perseids – an annual meteor shower each August seen as coming from the constellation Perseus. It arises because our planet passes each year through the debris of dust left by a comet (in this case, comet Swift-Tuttle) and peaks around the middle of August. It is a highly anticipated event among amateur skywatchers because it can deliver up to 60 or more meteors every hour. And as well as the simple aesthetic joy of seeing a meteor event in the night sky, enthusiasts count meteors – comparing their counts with friends, and even submitting them to astronomy forums. Which in a sense is something like a haiku party!
But the last line of your poem, Jeff, is charmingly honest. I remember the first night I took my son to see the moons of Jupiter through a small telescope, and we were eaten alive by mosquitoes. He remembers both – the thrill of seeing the Jovian moons for the first time, and the mosquitoes!
Which is a wonderful truth which you remind us of: in every beauty, with every delight – comes some small death.
Thanks for sharing this with us.
Strider
September 22nd, 2014 at 1:50 pm
Ah, lovely! :)
marion
September 24th, 2014 at 7:52 am
There is something magical about the brevity of such a poem and how it opens up to let the mind wander. This is why I think it's so important to read haiku slowly, to give it time to leave its impression. Absolutely lovely. :)
September 20th, 2015 at 1:28 pm
Education is an effort of successful and prosperous life. Education make lives complete. Education makes our character strong. Education provides hope and peace in society. Educated people never disappointed from life. They sort out problems in logical and reasonable ways and soon get out from hardships.