HAIKU DIALOGUE – Music Around the World – To enlightenment and beyond or music and the spiritual path – commentary

Music Around the World with Guest Editor Deborah Karl-Brandt

Hi guys, it’s me again. Over the next few weeks, we’ll be immersing ourselves in music together. There is a variety of instruments, rhythms and melodies to explore around the globe. Ancient Chinese music is based on a five-tone system and the guqin had an almost religious significance. Waka and later the tanka are basically songs. The mother’s steady heartbeat calms the baby in the womb and can be compared to the rhythm of a drum. Music is the language that everyone can connect with, even without understanding the meaning of the words being sung. It speaks directly to our hearts. I would like to invite everyone to explore the world of music with me in these prompts.

Below is Deborah’s commentary for To enlightenment and beyond or music and the spiritual path:

Music: Shakuhachi flute – Rodrigo Rodriguez – contemporary Japanese music

the swirling
of a dervish…
galaxy curls unto itself

Ram Chandran
India

I really like this haiku. The author uses the zoom technique to talk about something as small as a human being and something as unimaginably large as the galaxy. Both contrasting images merge into one image in which humans are part of the universe and the universe is part of every human being. The transcendental permeates everything: humans, the cosmos, and music. This masterfully composed haiku reminds the reader that something sacred is hidden within us all.

maybe
I was mistaken . . .
echo of suikinkutsu

Keiko Izawa
Japan

This haiku is carried by its kigo. The suikinkutsu is a Japanese musical instrument that uses the sound of falling water droplets. Every now and then, a crystal clear tone rings out in the air. The tones are not quite the same, but very similar and repetitive. There are doubts that repeatedly haunt the lyrical narrator. Have I done something wrong, have I made a mistake? The dark energy of these cruel self-doubts stands in stark contrast to the soothing and beautiful sounds of the suikinkutsu. Truly a masterful poem.

music
of gratitude and pain
white roses

Zdenka Mlinar
Croatia

White roses symbolize purity, innocence, and peace. White roses are often used as floral decorations at funerals. When my mother passed away, I chose white roses to accompany her on her final journey. Deep in my heart, I wished her the peace she could not find in life. Often, the favorite songs of the deceased are played once again at the farewell. And this music opens the heart and finally allows the tears to flow. Without using the word “funeral,” this haiku allows the reader to share in this experience, which will change the horizon of every human being forever.

…one with the reed and wind my breath in the flute

Biswajit Mishra
Canada

This monoku is amazing. ‘Wind,’ ‘reed,’ ‘breath,’ and ‘flute’ are moved by the same energy that permeates everything. The Chinese call this energy qi. This monoku allows one to feel the unity of all phenomena, the non-separate. We are simultaneously the wind, the reed, the flute, and the breath. Ultimately, we are a temporary manifestation of qi. The form of the monoku also resembles a flute. Form, musicality of words, and content together create an extraordinary poem.

distant flute –
frog dreams
becoming the moon

Morgan Ophir
Sydney, Australia

This surreal haiku about a frog, music, and the moon resembles a Japanese koan. What is it trying to tell me? I feel that it has deep meaning. Perhaps it is challenging me to look behind the curtain, to question what I think I know about reality. The tonal qualities of the haiku are also compelling. Its musicality transforms the poem itself into music that can awaken the reader/listener. A perfect haiku.

knowing whose it is…

the kangling touches my lips

simonj
UK

This haiku stands out. It is written in an unusual way. The empty second line not only emphasizes the ma, but also acts as a stop sign. Whatever else the poet has in store for us, we have been warned. In Japanese haiku, the kireji serves to prepare the reader for the emotional aha moment; in this poem, this is achieved by the large empty space in the second line. The poet knows from the outset where the story is going. We get the resolution in the third line. The word ‘kangling’ refers to a Tibetan ritual flute carved from a human thigh bone. Among other things, it is used to exorcise demons. Suddenly, everything makes sense, and we begin reading from the beginning, perceiving the world in a slightly different light. This is much, but is it too much? I don’t know, but this is a haiku that will haunt my days.

Irish sacred songs
the sea spray sticks
to the soul

Marie Derley
Ath, Belgium

This beautiful haiku thrives on its many “s” sounds. You can almost hear the spray. The second line acts as a pivot line, giving the poem further layers of meaning. There are many ways to write an effective haiku, and this is one of them.

passing clouds
a cicada song lost
to the wind

John Pappas
USA

This wonderful haiku shows us an autumnal scene in nature. Clouds passing by and the song of the cicada, which is still there even though it has already been carried away by the wind. For me, this haiku strikes a perfect balance between the temporary, the fleeting, and that which remains, even when everything else changes. It is comforting to know that even the clouds will move on one day and that eventually we will hear the song of the cicada again.

beyond words
beyond knowing —
the sound of a flute

Sanjana Zorinc
Croatia

This haiku is deeply rooted in Zen. It deals with balance and imbalance and also explores the limits of the human mind. The meaning of the flute’s notes cannot be grasped by the mind. The music of the flute is a koan. Something incomprehensible that can only be experienced in other ways. It is possible to do justice to the depth of the experience and its levels of meaning, but one must gain a new perspective before one can get there.

At the end of this column I wish to highlight some poems which deal with music and its power to heal. The idea that music can heal both the human mind and body is ancient. Even in ancient times, it was believed that illness was a state of disorder that could be cured by music. The Roman physician Celsus prescribed certain music to distract the sick from brooding. In the Old Testament, Saul is freed from an evil spirit (illness) with the help of zither music, and the Chinese guqin was an instrument played primarily for self-cultivation and its healing powers.

guqin quiet
in the air
my qi flows

Susan Farner
USA

 

organ symphony…
moved
heart and soul

Laurie Greer
Washington, DC

 

wrapped with gold
the healing tones
of his shakuhachi

Kathabela Wilson
USA

 

for days on IV
a room cleaners
soothing hum

Sumitra Kumar
India

 

all the shlokas
amongst medical reports
a second chance

Amoolya Kamalnath
India

 

Albinoni
an oboe unfolds
the soul’s secrets

Ruth Holzer
Potomac Falls, VA

 

music in the temple –
we feel how God
caresses souls

Stoianka Boianova
Bulgaria

Join us next week for our next prompt…

Bios:

Guest Editor Deborah Karl-Brandt lives in Sinzig, Germany, with her husband, two rabbits and numerous books. After her PhD studies in Scandinavian languages and literatures, she works as a freelance author and poet. Her poems have appeared in magazines like Prune Juice, Kingfisher, First Frost, Frogpond, Failed Haiku and Tsuridoro. If she is not outside for a long stroll or to do some birdwatching, she explores Chinese and Japanese novels.

Assistant Editor Lafcadio, a former teacher, now works from home writing, editing and proofreading study guides for nursing textbooks. She lives in Tennessee. She has written poetry for a long time but a couple of years ago fell in love with Japanese micropoetry and hasn’t looked back. Lafcadio has been published in a number of journals and anthologies. She writes under the nom de plume of Lafcadio because nom de plume is so fun to say. You can read her poems on Twitter (X) @lafcadiopoetry or BlueSky @lafcadiobsky.

Assistant Editor Vandana Parashar is an associate editor of haikuKATHA and one of the editors of Poetry Pea and #FemkuMag. Her debut e-chapbook, I Am, was published by Title IX Press (now Moth Orchid Press) in 2019 and her second chapbook Alone, I Am Not, was published by Velvet Dusk Publishing in April 2022.

Lori Zajkowski is the Post Manager for Haiku Dialogue. She lives in New York City and enjoys reading and writing haiku.

Managing Editor Katherine Munro lives in Whitehorse, Yukon Territory, and publishes under the name kjmunro. She served as Membership Secretary for Haiku Canada for ten years, and her debut poetry collection is contractions (Red Moon Press, 2019). Find her at: kjmunro1560.wordpress.com.

Portrait by Laurel Parry

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Haiku Dialogue offers a triweekly prompt for practicing your haiku. Posts appear each Wednesday with a prompt or a selection of poems from a previous week.