Juxtaposition of images is such a potent device in haiku. Do we pair images so that the reader can get a split-second connection, or one that resonates with us over several re-readings so much it increases its power over us?
As a reader I need to be moved, and this certainly succeeds.
Thank you Margaret. Spooky appropriate. I just learned that a feisty 97-year-old neighbor of mine just passed and she did it her way. Somewhere a plum is flowering for her!
This is a very striking haiku, Maggie. The phrase is sad, but that flowering plum in the fragment leaves us with a beautiful, lasting image. I imagined that this lady was buried under a plum tree and her children and grandchildren will be reminded of her every time it flowers.
October 13th, 2014 at 8:31 am
Lovely!
October 13th, 2014 at 9:07 am
Thank you, Marilyn!
October 13th, 2014 at 8:49 am
.
the way
she chooses to die . . .
flowering plum
—MARGARET DORNAUS
Juxtaposition of images is such a potent device in haiku. Do we pair images so that the reader can get a split-second connection, or one that resonates with us over several re-readings so much it increases its power over us?
As a reader I need to be moved, and this certainly succeeds.
Thank you.
Alan
October 13th, 2014 at 8:56 am
Thank you, Alan, for your kind words.
October 13th, 2014 at 9:09 am
Thank you Margaret. Spooky appropriate. I just learned that a feisty 97-year-old neighbor of mine just passed and she did it her way. Somewhere a plum is flowering for her!
October 13th, 2014 at 9:16 am
Very moving! A beloved aunt, ninety, just passed last week. She died the way she lived – blooming with a quiet spirit. Thank you for this lovely poem!
October 14th, 2014 at 2:03 am
Ghost moon in daylight,
as if a lost planet was
outlined iin pencil.
October 14th, 2014 at 1:01 pm
Wow, this one certainly grabs you by the heart and doesn't let go. Poignantly beautiful.
October 18th, 2014 at 2:06 pm
Thank you so much, Gisele._
October 28th, 2014 at 2:16 am
This is a very striking haiku, Maggie. The phrase is sad, but that flowering plum in the fragment leaves us with a beautiful, lasting image. I imagined that this lady was buried under a plum tree and her children and grandchildren will be reminded of her every time it flowers.
marion
October 28th, 2014 at 5:06 pm
Thank you, Marion.