English Original
spring chill
a crow perched on
war
HSA Newsletter, 37:3, 2022
Fay Aoyagi
Chinese Translation (Traditional)
春寒
一隻烏鴉棲息
在戰爭之中
Chinese Translation (Simplified)
春寒
一只乌鸦栖息
在战争之中
Bio Sketch
Fay Aoyagi （青柳飛）was born in Tokyo and immigrated to the U.S. in 1982. She is currently a member of Haiku Society of America and Haiku Poets of Northern California. She serves as an associate editor of The Heron's Nest. She also writes in Japanese and belongs to two Japanese haiku groups; Ten'I (天為) and "Aki"（秋), and she is a member of Haijin Kyokai (俳人協会).
In the New York Times, I read an article about an Afghan woman who fled the country with her husband with just one backpack. She was pregnant and gave birth at the refugee camp. You may have read or watched similar stories. As haiku poets, should we spread a story like hers? News footage on TV gives us a powerful image. Can we digest it and compose strong haiku? Can we move a reader even though we sit comfortably at home, away from bombshells? I think that we can try. On February 24, Russia invaded Ukraine. San Francisco, where I live, has many Russian/Ukrainian descendants. There is “Russian” Hill in my neighborhood. Is that enough for me to compose on a tragedy happening in Europe? Will I be able to create a convincing “juugo haiku”?
ReplyDeletespring chill
a crow perched on
war
Fay Aoyagi
-- excerpted from the "To the Lighthouse," post, "Reflections on First-Person Experience in War Haiku" by Fay Aoyagi, accessed at http://neverendingstoryhaikutanka.blogspot.com/2022/04/to-lighthouse-reflections-on-first.html
"News footage on TV gives us a powerful image. Can we digest it and compose strong haiku? Can we move a reader even though we sit comfortably at home, away from bombshells? "
DeleteDefinitely yes.
Poetry acts as a witness in, to, and most importantly, through troubled times.
Chen-ou Liu, An Interview with Dimitar Anakiev, editor of the upcoming tanka anthology
And I've written and published more than twenty poems since the Russian Invasion against Ukraine. The following poem is the most tweeted one:
"Russian Withdrawal from Bucha"
piles of rubble
where a row of houses stood
smoky twilight
trees blackened
by a cloud of ravens
blood-stained doll
a Ukrainian's stare
his shadow slips
into a mass grave
NeverEnding Story, April 5 2022