the forget-me-nots
and the sky —
an echo
Red Dragonfly, December 2015
Mellisa Allen
Commentary: Allen takes on a centuries-old challenge here. Basho was known to advise prospective students, “Don’t imitate me; / it’s as boring/ as the two halves of a melon.”
In response to the following by Basho:
The daffodils
And the white paper screen
Reflecting one another’s color
And the white paper screen
Reflecting one another’s color
Without mimicking, Allen closely copies image, structure of experience, and insight. She sticks with flowers—Basho’s daffodils become forget-me-nots. She substitutes the sky for the paper screen. She asserts similarity between reflection and echo. Grammatical structure and thus order of experience remain the same. So does insight and mood...
-- excerpted from To the Lighthouse: "Copying to Create: The Role of Imitation and Emulation in Developing Haiku Craft" by Michele Root-Bernstein
