Pravat
Kumar Padhy’s haiku was particularly meaningful to me:
wedding morning
the butterfly wings
its tender touch
# 27. Pravat Kumar Padhy, IN
Just as the
morning is the beginning of a new day, so marriage is the
beginning of a new journey in life. The butterfly seeking
the sweet gifts of flowers on this morning evokes a
promising sunshiny day, the exchange of many gifts, and an
array of colorful flowers. So too marriage is a promise of
future joys. The butterfly has undergone the transformation
of a past life as a caterpillar. The marriage couple now
will undergo their own transformation. The wings of a
butterfly are fragile and must be handled with care. So too
marriage calls for a “tender touch”. The kind of desired
transformation of those becoming one will need to take place
under all the conditions of love which include tenderness,
kindness, trust, faithfulness, and so many other things.
****
Chen-ou Liu
reminds us that the future promised may not turn out as
expected. This haiku, though, seems a bit stronger than just
a reminder with13 crows present. No bride and groom would
want to proceed under these circumstances, but love is a
very strong influence, often overcoming all odds. This
wedding takes place in a garden and, at first, I misread it
as “garden weeding”, a garden being invaded by weeds. Here
the newlyweds are reminded that they cannot expect their
marriage to be problem free. There will be weeds in the
garden and these will need to be dealt with, hopefully, with
that “tender touch” of the previous haiku.
thirteen crows
on a telephone wire
garden wedding
# 01. Chen-ou Liu, CA
****
I don’t
think Harvey Jenkins in his haiku is focusing on the wedding
cake but indirectly reminding us that those involved in a
wedding are human and have their faults. He may be thinking
about love being blind or having a more noble thought that
true love can accept such faults and married couples can
help one another become better persons despite their
faults.
wedding cake
all its tiered faults
are covered in icing
# 03. Harvey Jenkins, CA
****
golden rings
I try on
my new name
# 88. Cara Holman, US
Cara
Holman’s haiku has a lot of meaning. Here, I think, the
emphasis is on becoming one and, even though it is not
directly expressed, the reader is aware of the joy that
accompanies this act as well as the complete acceptance of
her husband by the bride. A real transformation has already
begun. It is not overshadowed by the symbolism of the golden
rings, which are themselves very rich in meaning. The ring
closes the bond and being a circle it symbolizes eternity
and unity. The fourth finger of the left hand, on which each
ring is placed, should not be overlooked with its direct
link to the heart. The rings are golden.
****
a dew drop…
sun caressing its
morning bride
# 40. Diana Teneva, BG
Diana
Teneva’s haiku is also very meaningful. It reflects a lot of
the same thoughts as Pravat Kumar Padhy’s haiku as well as
some of those of Diana Teneva’s. The dew drop is circular
and occurs in the morning. The sun caresses which is
reflective of the “tender touch”. Gold is the sun’s metal
and the sun has been considered by many as a god. In this
case the bride is the goddess.
****
Of all the
extenuating circumstances that can color the wedding
ceremony, this haiku caught my fancy.
baby bump
the bride
wears white
# 123. Patricia Carragon, NY US
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Flowers are
more than an accessory of a wedding. They have their own
expressive language (floriography) and send messages clear
and loud besides lending color to the scene. I am partial to
flowers, so my picks here are overly subjective.
blue eyes of the bride—
in them a wedding bouquet
of irises
# 84. Tonka Lovric (Davor), CR
According to
THE ILLUSTRATED SIGNS & SYMBOLS SOURCEBOOK,
the iris speaks passion. And Tonka Lovice (Davor)’s haiku
has more than one.
Lilacs,
depending upon the color, convey several messages. In
general they symbolize beauty and pride. Their purple color
conveys the idea of the first emotions of love and a white
lilac represents youthful innocence. So the choice of lilac
to describe the dawn is not just very colorful, befitting a
beautiful bouquet, but also very meaningful.
lilac dawn
gathering a bouquet
for the bride
# 70. Máire Morrissey-Cummins, IE
As the
bride walks down the aisle, no doubt, what comes first to
mind, is the music accompanying the wedding march. In Cara
Holman’s haiku, the audience is pleasantly wafted with the
pleasant scent of freesia, which is reminiscent of innocence
and trust.
aisle
walk
the trailing scent
of freesia
# 90. Cara Holman, US
In Stefanija
Ludvig’s haiku, the preacher’s intoning “..or forever hold
your peace—“
was reinforced by the gardenias which their strong
statements: “You’re lovely”, secret love, purity, and
refinement.
the preacher intones
"...or forever hold your peace—"
scent of gardenias
# 96. Štefanija Ludvig, CR
****
In this next
haiku, the wedding takes place in a garden. No doubt, many
of the flowers already mentioned were present, but Karin
Anderson highlights sunflowers. Her combining the three
words of “ringed”, “blaze”, and “I do”” with the sunflowers
emphasizes the unifying act of what is taking place and much
more. The ring is placed on the finger as the couple says “I
do”; thus, the link or bond. The ring and the ringed
sunflowers also have the shape of a circle symbolizing
eternity and unity. Sunflowers have magical powers and this
can be considered part of the meaning of “blaze” here. They
confer the couple with their potent power. Sunflowers
adorned the crowns of Roman emperors for this reason.
Marriage is a celebration. Native Americans considered the
sunflower as sacred and used them extensively in
celebrations and festivities.
garden wedding
ringed sunflowers blaze
to I do
# 28. Karin Anderson, AU
Finally,
the sunflower is a symbol of light, hope, and innocence and
even world peace. We can hope that these sunflowers keep
blazing not just for these newlyweds but for everyone.
****
wedding gifts—
in the bride’s bouquet
some lily of the valley.
# 32. Dan Iulian, Romania
The lily of
the valley is a precious gift to be held dear. It conveys
the sense of sweetness and a promise of happiness. For
Christians lily of the valley are interpreted as the “tears
of the Virgin Mary” and elicit the virtue of humility, which
I equivocate with the virtue of truth, a very important
element for a successful marriage. I don’t know how true
this is: the lily of the valley has a reputation for
attracting silver, but, perhaps, more importantly it is a
symbol of spring and new life.
****
If you read
some of my haiku in the thread you will notice that I also
included several flowers as well as some food items:
daisies = innocence, loyal love, purity, beauty, respect
tulip (red) = “Believe me”, declaration of love
lemon blossom = fidelity in love, “I promise to be true”
orange blossom = innocence, eternal love, marriage,
fruitfulness
primrose = “I can’t live without you.”
daffodil = regard, unrequited love, “You’re the only one.”
chrysanthemum = cheerfulness, abundance, and “You’re a
wonderful friend”.
betal nuts - symbol of love and marriage
garlic
cloves - symbol of protection and good luck. It was once
the practice of brides to carry garlic on their wedding day.
barley – In India, the barley is sacred to the God Indra,
“the one who ripens
the barley”.
It is symbolic of male potency and promises fertility to the
bride
and groom
when scattered at weddings.
****
With this
haiku of Cristina-Monica Moldoveanu, the symbolism of the
tree adds more meaning to this scene and the haiku can be
read in two ways. The acacia thrives in harsh conditions and
has endured for thousands of years despite drought. It also
provides shelter for many animals. It is a symbol of
endurance and protection.
bridal veil
floating in the wind—
acacia blossom
#190. Cristina-Monica Moldoveanu. RO
****
I found
Bouwe Brouwer’s haiku amusing:
bridal gown
the cat can't find
any legs
# 210. Bouwe Brouwer, NL
Another
Bouwer haiku is also an interesting twist of “the two shall
become one”:
wedding
vows—
a mosquito
with my DNA
# 212.
Bouwe Brouwer, NL
****
Nature is a
wonderful complement to the wedding ceremony. Many of the
haiku reflect nature’s role. In my previous selections I
chose those haiku that convey a meaning and not just paint a
beautiful scene. Of those that more or less paint such a
picture, I like
spring
wedding
falling blossoms
nature's confetti
# 02. Rachel Sutcliffe, UK
I
particularly like the simplicity of this haiku.
****
The first
line of Eftichia Kapardeli’s haiku splashes with color:
gold threads of sun—
her white wedding dress
fit for a Goddess
# 17. Eftichia Kapardeli, GR (Greece)
****
John
Daleiden gives us a different version of a shotgun wedding:
something borrowed—
her father's 45
in her garter belt
# 124. John Daleiden, US
What was she
thinking of? With that I will end with a bang.
