bare trees
the credits for the war movie
white on black

Published by

Patricia J. Machmiller

Patricia J. Machmiller began writing haiku in 1975 with Kiyoshi and Kiyoko Tokutomi, founders of the Yuki Teikei Haiku Society. With Jerry Ball, and now Emiko Miyashita, she writes a regular column of haiku commentary, ?Dojin?s Corner,? for GEPPO, the newsletter of YTHS. Her book of haiku, Blush of Winter Moon, is published by Jacaranda Press. With Fay Aoyagi she has translated the haiku of Kiyoko Tokutomi, Kiyoko?s Sky (Brooks Books, 2002). She has three books of haiga, Mountain Trail: Following the Master (www.lulu.com), The Sweet Reverence of Little Birds (www.lulu.com), and Wild Heart of One Bird Singing (www.lulu.com). The last two books were done in collaboration with the artist, Floy Zittin, and the calligrapher, Martha Dahlen. She is also a brush painter and printmaker; her artwork, including some haiga, can be seen at www.patriciajmachmiller.com.

6 thoughts on “”

  2. I find this an intriguing haiku; the initial emotional impact the imagery brings is stark and slightly jolting. When I contemplate it further, I find that the initial image of death is softened by the awareness of the inevitable follow-up of spring, as suggested with the bare trees. The credits, white on black as opposed to black on white, bring to mind some kind of hope. Nicely layered.

    Reply

  4. *
    bare trees
    the credits for the war movie
    white on black

    —PJM

    An imaginative take on war movies that started off in b&w film, and now we often go to war in black and white, and sometimes the white race onto the black race, even fellow Black American soldiers not getting the recognition they deserve, and suffered.

    There's a lot of different layers of meaning we can all get into this poem, including being blacklisted in Hollywood, to being blacklisted in life because of race and skin tone, and so many different reasons.

    It may be that I am reading socio-political meanings when it may mean snow on the ground, and the early war films were shot in black and white.

    Lots of material for different kinds of readers.

    warm regards,

    Alan

    Reply

    1. Alan–Thank you for your deep reading of this poem. I am just discovering your message now a year and a half later. Much has happened since this was published. I just want to express my gratitude to you for taking the time to give me feedback.

      Reply

      1. Thank you!

        My parents served in the Second World War, but I haven't seen war of that sort, but did my bit checking out suspect explosive devices during the terror years of the 1970s and 1980s, never expecting to live beyond a day.
        .
        I was brought up on war movies and the big WWII documentary series, as well as World War I. I'm still astonished we use war in the new 21st Century alas.
        .
        .

        war moon
        the flickering of humans
        at birdsong

        Alan Summers
        Publication Credit: Asahi Shimbun (Japan 2015)
        the blood moon issue, Oct 2 for the eclipse of 9/28

        David McMurray:
        “brilliant haiku”

        Anthology Credit: Heart Breaths: Book of Contemporary Haiku ed. Jean LeBlanc
        ISBN: 9789385945038
        .
        .

        Reply

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