summer haze --
a crow flaps free
of the asphalt
Frogpond, 27:1, Winter 2004
H. Gene Murtha
Chinese Translation (Traditional)
夏日陰霾 --
一隻烏鴉拍動翅膀
從瀝青中飛出來
Chinese Translation (Simplified)
夏日阴霾 --
一只乌鸦拍动翅膀
从沥青中飞出来
Bio Sketch
H.
Gene Murtha, a naturalist and poet, sponsored and judged the first
haiku contest for the inner city children of Camden, NJ., for the
Virgilio Group, of which he was a lifetime member. He was widely published
for his work in haikai literature from the USA to Japan.
... A sense of nature under duress is even more poignantly expressed in the following haiku, which once more focuses on the position of a bird, here threatened by what is possibly a naturally-occurring phenomenon.
ReplyDeletesummer haze –
a crow flaps free
of the asphalt 6
This is a haiku which reveals its grim meaning gradually. Line one is subtly paradoxical. In Japanese haiku there are particular words to refer to the ‘haze’ or ‘mist’ of spring and the ‘fog’ of autumn and winter – all with the potential of beauty. This is not what is alluded to here. This is a heat haze, created perhaps by petroleum fumes. Such beauty as it has is illusory. Line two shows a crow apparently flying freely; however, line three reveals this too is an illusion. It is freeing itself from the ensnarement of bitumen, perhaps from a natural tar pit, perhaps from a road surface, perhaps from a tar sands tailings pond. The ‘haze’ of line one now seems like the optical illusion of water apparently shimmering on a summer roadway. The dragging effort involved in the bird’s apparent escape is suggested by the alliteration, the repeated ‘f’s’ catching in the reader’s mouth as teeth make contact with bottom lip. The bird’s freedom may well be temporary.
First impressions mislead in this haiku. The crow is likely to have been soiled by the black sticky substance that had trapped it. Its contamination may be permanent, though not immediately apparent on its black, shining wings. Images of seabirds mired in oil slicks may come to the reader’s mind. This is another poem that ultima ...
-- excerpted from "Dark Wings of Night" post, "First Warm Day – H. Gene Murtha’s Bird Haiku by Jo McInerney", accessed at http://neverendingstoryhaikutanka.blogspot.com/2016/06/dark-wings-of-night-first-warm-day-h.html