Poetic Musings: Kamikaze Mother Haiku by Fay Aoyagi

fireflies --

a Kamikaze mother whispers

her son's name

Chrysanthemum Love, 2003

Fay Aoyagi

Commentary: when evaluated in the socio-cultural context of Japanese literature, the contrasts, thematic, emotional, visual and symbolic, of fireflies and the tie between a Kamikaze/suicide pilot and his mother are poignantly effective. 

And the image of a heartbroken mother in a patriarchal wartime/militarized society whispering, not crying out, her dead son's name adds extra emotional weight and psychological depth to the haiku.

Her haiku below, also included in Chrysanthemum Love, 2003, could be read as a sequel:

intact Zero fighter

at the Smithsonian --

cherry blossom rain

(FYI: The Zero fighter, the most famous symbol of Japanese air power, was repurposed for a kamikaze attack in the latter stages of World War II)

Notes:

1 "In Japan, where [fireflies] are called "hotaru," they are beloved – a metaphor for passionate love in poetry since Man'you-shu (the 8th century anthology). Their eerie lights are also thought to be the altered form of the souls of soldiers who have died in war.

-- excerpted from "Why the Firefly (Hotaru) Is Important in Japan?," ThoughtCo, Feb. 5, 2019.

2 In World War II, a Kamikaze was a Japanese aircraft loaded with explosives and making a deliberate suicidal crash on an enemy target. The Japanese people, especially Kamikaze pilots, were indoctrinated to believe in the concept of "Bushido" (the "highest honor" for a man to die for the "Emperor"). The courageous tanka poet, Yosano Akiko attacked its concept in her in/famous poem, "Kimi Shinitamou koto nakare" ("Thou Shalt Not Die"), addressed to her younger brother.