Monday, February 7, 2022

Poetic Musings: Mannequins Haiku by Martin Shea

the long night
of the mannequins --
snow falling

The Mamba, 5, March 2018

Martin Shea

Commentary: In Shea’s haiku, the pause occurs before the last line. In this case the poem’s moment is long -- an entire night. It’s not just the snow that might be keeping shoppers away but the long hours of night when the store is closed. This poem extends empathy to the mannequins and their seeming loneliness in this situation. Every night is surely the same, but this particular night feels even longer because of the snow -- excerpted from "Thirteen Ways of Reading Haiku" by Michael Dylan Welch

Note: You can read the full text here, To the Lighthouse: "Thirteen Ways of Reading Haiku" by Michael Dylan Welch

1 comment:

  1. It might be interesting to do a comparative reading of my mannequins haiku written during the Covid19 pandemic, which could be read as prequels to Martin's haiku:

    Two Hundred and Fortieth Entry

    Grand Re-Opening
    bikini-clad mannequins
    watch a masked man

    Two Hundred and Sixty-Second Entry

    window shopping
    a new line
    of masked mannequins

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