pine needle path --
ordinary words
layered just so
Second Place, 2015 HPNC International Haiku Competition
Julie Warther
Chinese Translation (Traditional)
松針路徑 --
日常對話就是這樣
具有多層意義
Chinese Translation (Simplified)
松针路径 --
日常对话就是这样
具有多层意义
Bio Sketch
Julie Warther is the author of What Was Here
(Folded Word Press 2015) and serves as the Midwest Regional Coordinator
for the Haiku Society of America. Julie was instrumental in the
creation of the Forest Haiku Walk, a path of thirty stones featuring haiku by Midwest poets.
In this fine haiku, one envisions a conversation about a delicate topic where each word is carefully chosen, not hyperbolic or highly charged. Yet the intentionality of choosing ordinary words that need to be layered in a particular way suggests the possibly loaded nature of the subject matter. “Layered” suggests not just the arrangement of the words but the multiple meanings of individual words. While internal comparisons often involve similarities, this haiku is structured around tension and contradiction. The pine needles on the path are “ordinary” and may appear to be “layered just so,” and in this way suggest the ordinariness of the spoken words. The pine needles, however, are not layered “just so.” They are positioned randomly where they land after falling, which heightens the constructed nature of the conversation on the same path.
ReplyDelete-- excerpted from Judge's Commentary