...Once
Upon A Time
John
Daleiden
Twenty-six
poets from thirteen countries contributed seventy-eight
haiku for the "beach" thread in the July / August
Sketchbook.
71% of the
Earth's surface is covered with a global, interconnected
body of Seawater often referred to as the World Ocean,
though we generally think of these vast bodies of water as
separate entities known as the Pacific Ocean, Atlantic
Ocean, Indian Ocean and the Artic Ocean. One significant
land feature of interest to humans is the "beach"—a
geological landform along the shoreline of a body of
water. It is at the "beach" where humans interact with the
ocean.
the winding road
to Maracas beach
smell of the sea
# 34. Gillena Cox, TT
This haiku
vibrantly captures a vista image of a "winding road"
leading to "Maracas Beach on the north side of the island
of Trinidad; additionally, it introduces us to the unique
scent of the sea.
a footprint
fills with seaweed—
high tide
# 05. Alexander "Lex" Joy
The beaches of
the world's oceans are often visited by humans; but, the
tides are also ever present. In this haiku the presence of
humans, the tidal currents of the ocean, and seaweed, a
bountiful ocean plant are vividly intertwined.
Haitian blue water
washes the laundry white sand—
a paint brush dream
# 58. Patricia Biela, US
Captured with
eloquence is this stunning portrait of a stretch of white
sand beach and the turquoise waters stretching beyond a
shoreline that certainly rises in rolling, lush, green
hills. These images will delight the pallet of any artist
or "beach" aficionado.
after the storm—
on the beach an empty boat
and sea-jellies
# 77. Maria Tirenescu, RO
The elemental
forces of nature are implicit in this haiku; on a deserted
beach we view an empty boat which certainly conveyed human
beings at some point, and "sea-jellies"—jellyfish—a
sea creature resembling an umbrella which normally lives
in the ocean waters. The fact that both objects are
stranded on an "empty beach" after a storm speaks volumes.
The scene presents a picture that is awesome in its beauty
and yet terrifying when the destructive phase is taking
place. Ironically, the haiku presents a placid and benign
result.
dawn beach
a crab crawls out
from the sandcastle
# 61. Jacek Margolak, PL
Here, the
interaction of the animal world and the human world are
simply shown in conjunction with each other. The scene,
set at dawn on a beach, is elemental and in many ways
suggests the whole of creation as though it were just
happening for the first time, although, on reflection, we
conclude that this is just one reenactment of the initial
event that took place some time eons ago.
deserted beach—
a nun speaks out loud
to the sky
# 37. Karina Klesko, US
On a "deserted
beach—
/ a nun speaks out loud / to the sky". We view a nun,
a female monastic who has taken solemn vows committing
herself to a religious life. Instead of a convent setting,
this nun appears on a "deserted beach", perhaps a
replacement setting for the confines of a convent, and she
"speaks out loud to the sky". We are not told the
substance of her words—we
can only conjecture. Are her words of praise or of
anguish? Does the "deserted beach" represent the created
world of God, or does it represent the invasive human
world as opposed to the cloistered world of the convent.
We do not know—and it is these mysterious unknown
quantities in this haiku that lead us to speculate about
the worlds of the known the unknown. Perhaps,
through contemplation the nun and the reader will discover
aspects of the creation and the creator. The enigmatic
qualities in this haiku lead us to the unknown. This haiku
prompts the reader to a philosophical contemplation of the
major questions about human kind, the external world, and
questions about creation and the creator.
beach reading—
the sandcrab's black eyes
peer at me
# 44. Terri French, US
Returning to
the physical world, this haiku places the haiku reader on
the beach, reading. We do not know the name of the text
being read, but we become very much aware of the "black
eyes" of a "sandcrab peer(ing) at me". The physical human
world collides with the physical natural
environment—perhaps the human is fearful of the suddenly
discovered animal species, although, common human
experience tells us all that the animal world is
everywhere present, and that humans are generally a
dominant species. The haiku replicates the sudden, and
unexpected awareness of "the other species world" and the
human uneasiness that takes place. This haiku expresses
quite well the shock of this emotion.
nude beach
an ice cream vendor's
distant jingle
#15. Garry Eaton, CA
In the mundane
world of conflicting human experience, this humorous haiku
displays a social dichotomy of the clothed and the
unclothed. On the "nude beach" the "distant jingle" of "an
ice cream vendor" is heard. Will the vendor venture
to the nude beach to peddle ice cream confections—certainly,
there would be paying customers despite the nude status?
Will the vendor be clothed? an interesting interaction of
opposing social values. Or will the "distant jingle"
remain distant, separated by differing social values.
Amusingly, this haiku raises our heightened awareness of
opposite social values.
glittering sunlight
bouncing up and down
a beach ball
# 26. Keith A. Simmonds, TT
Returning to a
more traditional social world, this haiku depicts a
common, and familiar beach experience—beach
ball games. The interaction of the "bouncing" ball and the
"glittering sunlight" is an interesting visual portrait of
a common experience.
chorus of cheers—
a game of beach volleyball
on the sandy shore
# 35. Willie R. Bongcaron, PH
Similarly,
this haiku replicates the experience of playing "beach"
ballgames, but adds the dimension of sound with a "chorus
of cheers".
sand castles
the beachmaster
makes a muscle
# 03. Garry Eaton, CA
The beach is a
place for social gatherings! No beach experience would be
complete without "Mr. Atlas" displaying" his muscles.
...and of
course...
nude beach
her mud pies
so big
# 31. Jacek Margolak, PL
...and
finally, as we enter the fall season, as the weather
changes—it
seems that change is the only constant in the physical
world:
a man and woman
picnic on the cold beach—
hopeful gulls arrive
# 56. Neal Whitman, US
This haiku
returns me to a philosophical world. In contemplating the
images of this haiku I imagine a wonderful scene for a
painting that might have been rendered by the American
painter, Andrew Wyth. This haiku contains a sense of
companionship between the picnicking couple, but a
contrasting sense of need for the "hopeful gulls" arriving
for the expectation of food. The "coldness of the beach
emphasizes the ever changing environment. The world
of experience is indeed a world in constant flux.
For me, all of
these haiku have drawn on well known elements of the
"beach" experience and juxtaposed them with sudden and
unexpected relationships that have made me take a deep
breath and say, Oh! I too have been there once upon a
time.
On rereading
these comments I have become aware of how interesting
these haiku are when arranged in a sequence:
...Once
Upon A Time
the winding road
to Maracas beach
smell of the sea (# 34. Gillena Cox, TT)
a footprint
fills with seaweed—
high tide (# 05. Alexander "Lex" Joy)
Haitian blue water
washes the laundry white sand—
a paint brush dream (# 58. Patricia Biela, US)
after the storm—
on the beach an empty boat
and sea-jellies (# 77. Maria Tirenescu, RO)
dawn beach
a crab crawls out
from the sandcastle (# 61. Jacek Margolak, PL)
deserted beach—
a nun speaks out loud
to the sky (# 37. Karina Klesko, US)
beach reading—
the sandcrab's black eyes
peer at me (# 44. Terri French, US)
nude beach
an ice cream vendor's
distant jingle (#15. Garry Eaton, CA)
glittering sunlight
bouncing up and down
a beach ball (# 26. Keith A. Simmonds, TT)
chorus of cheers—
a game of beach volleyball
on the sandy shore (# 35. Willie R. Bongcaron, PH)
sand castles
the beachmaster
makes a muscle (# 03. Garry Eaton, CA)
nude beach
her mud pies
so big (# 31. Jacek Margolak, PL)
a man and woman
picnic on the cold beach—
hopeful gulls arrive (# 56. Neal Whitman, US)
