2007-10-13

Rengay Through the Seasons #6 Summary

by Masago: Rengay #6 (Oct 7 - 13) Summary

Over the Rail

Yellow leaves / falling in the sun...like / flakes of snow.
Her lush blond hair — first gray pulled out.
Sudden gust... his toupee lifts off, over / the bridge rail.
We pass over, the muffler does not — railway crossing.
Lake-side autumn picnic — the boom box plays hits.
Roadside vendor — cobs of corn overflow / onto the ground.

This haiku was written from a personal experience of seeing leaves being shaken off a tree laden with leaves in the fall. A gust of wind knocked off a whole "layer" of leaves and they drifted to the ground with the sun, low in the horizon, shining behind them. It instantly reminded me of a fresh snowfall being knocked off a tree in the wind. Both images are relatively uncommon. The snow has to have just fallen and be very dry, the temperature -20C or lower.

I'm not a big fan of comparisons and allusions in haiku but I felt it was essential in this one as all my other attempts at expressing this experience in haiku were pathetic. I posted this version of the haiku somewhere back in 2005/2006 and at least two individuals said this struck a chord with them (they had the same experience). I therefore felt justified in using it as the "hokku" in this rengay.

This was written without any idea of it telling a story. Later however, I noticed that one could easily envision a story about a family going out on an Autumn picnic.

Please click here for link, theme, and other comments:

http://spreadsheets.google.com/pub?key=pcytHc47X3uAENBSpyg4WIg&gid=0

Click here for the previous rengay in the series.

8 comments:

Bill said...

Windy. Well done.

Borut said...

Overflowing with abundance!:) I especially like the first and the last. I suppose our mind is a story-teller... ?

Ričardas said...

You've said so little, everybody heard so much

http://ricardo-haiku.blogspot.com/

polona said...

it's always interesting to read the story behind the work.
thank you

Masago said...

Bill: Thanks.

Borut: Thanks, yes I suppose our minds tend to like to tell stories. ;-)

Ričardas: Thanks!

Polona: Thanks for saying that. I create the notes pages hopeing that at least a few will find it interesting. :-)

Pat Paulk said...

What kind of sandwiches did ya have??

Pamela said...

I don't want to envision losing my muffler... but we saw one on the highway this weekend while traveling.

I wondered what it would be like to be inside a car when it fell apart like that.

This is a wonderful Rengay. alot of depth in each thought

Masago said...

Pat: No sandwiches, just a can of cold beans. :-)

Pamela: Yes, it would be a frightful experience, perhaps not as bad as blowing a tire though. :-)

Thanks for your kind comments.