Basho's frog ...
four hundred years
of ripples
So Little Time
Al Fogel
Chinese Translation (Traditional)
芭蕉的青蛙 ...
400年以來
的漣漪
Chinese Translation (Simplified)
芭蕉的青蛙 ...
400年以来
的涟漪
Bio Sketch
Al Fogel , 68, began his haiku journey about 3 years ago and has been writing haiku, senryu, tanka and haibun ever since. Some of his work has appeared in leading haijin journals around the globe. He has recently published two books: So Little Time and Holding Hand-helds: Senryu for the Cyber
Commentary by Jane Reichhold from Favorite Haiku..New Zealand Poetry
ReplyDeleteSociety:
At first the idea of picking only 10 of my favorite haiku seemed a rather
daunting task. How could I review all the haiku I have read in my life and
decide that there were only 10 that were outstanding? Then realized I was
already getting a steady stream of excellent haiku day by day through the AHA
forum.
The puns and write-offs based on Basho's most famous haiku are so
numerous I would have said that nothing new could be said with this
method, but here Al Fogel proved me wrong. Perhaps part of my delight in
this haiku lies in the fact that I agree with him. Here he is saying one thing
about realism–ripples are on a pond after a frog jumps in, but because it
refers back to Basho and his famous haiku, he is also saying something
about the haiku and authors who have followed him. We, and our work,
are just ripples while Basho holds the honor of inventing the idea of "the
sound of a frog leaping is the sound of water".
As haiku spreads around the world, making ripples in more and larger
ponds, its ripples are wider–including us all. But his last word reminds us
all that we are only ripples and our lives are that ephemeral. It will be the
frogs that will remain.
Ripples are not only on the pond but also in the minds of poets.
ReplyDeleteBasho's frog
jumps in an old pond
no sound heard
yet it ripples
in the minds of poets
Frog shorties from Ed Baker
ReplyDeletefar beyond moon frog leaps
far beyond frog moon leaps
so many frogs
in one pond
croaking
Many thanks to Ed.