I and I and I ripples on the river
Under the Basho, 1:1, Autumn 2013
Lorin Ford
Chinese Translation (Traditional)
我和我和我河上漣漪
Chinese Translation (Simplified)
我和我和我河上涟漪
Bio Sketch
Lorin Ford grew up between two homes, one by the beach and one in the bush. She has written ‘long’ poems but these days she focuses on haiku , both as a writer and as an editor. Her book, a wattle seedpod,(PostPressed 2008) is currently out of print but short collections of her work can be accessed at the Snapshot Press website and via her bio on the editors’ page at www.ahundredgourds.com
Lorin's effective use of diacope (the word "I"), coupled with the rippling river image, stirs ripples on the lake of the reader's mind (Kenneth Rexroth's phrase) and sparks his/her reflection on the 'I' in relation to the passage of time (as indicated by the river image). Most importantly, this I-haiku (a phrase borrowed from Japanese I-novel) challenges the long-held conception of a haiku as an egoless poem.
ReplyDeleteNote: "Diacope is a rhetorical term meaning repetition of a word or phrase with one or two intervening words. It derives from a Greek word meaning 'cut in two'".