The
moment I lay eyes on him, I’m surprised that I recognize him at
once. Not just because I don’t know him very well and hadn’t
seen him for over a year, but because his back is turned to me.
It’s his jacket. A brightly colored tweed number he wore last
year, the one I thought at the time sat oddly beneath his dark,
flowing, graying locks. Undoubtedly, I am in the right place.
I’ve
come to the conference, ‘Re-appraising Masaoka Shiki’ for a
few reasons. One is to accept an award – 3rd place in
the WHC Shiki Haiku Poems Competition. Another is to catch up with
some people who became friends at the World Haiku Festival 2000 12
months before. The other reason for being there is to spend a
weekend in London with my wife for the first time ever. It’s her
birthday.
|
arriving
in London
not having the currency yet
for the beggar |
But,
10 minutes after taking my seat and being introduced to the
conference participants, my real reason for being there becomes
clear. I’m a haiku nut. And the people in the room with me, all
of them, are haiku nuts.
It’s
a glorious day outside. A rare occasion, so I am told, by the
hotel staff this morning. "You’d better lap it up",
they say, "It’ll be raining tomorrow". But here I am,
and here we all are, sitting indoors on the first floor of a drab,
concrete city university building, gathered in eager anticipation
of what is about to begin, as the sun blazes down outside.
|
during
the lecture
the haijin keeps one eye
on the window |
Something
else becomes clear early on. Shiki is responsible for my being a
haiku nut.
I
began my haiku journey with the old masters. And whilst I was
taken with their brevity and occasional beauty, I wasn’t
enamoured by their content. Shiki changed this. In writing about
the forgettable and the ordinary, he cleared a path for me.
Listening
to Professor Wada, who gives an account of Shiki’s wretched life
and last days, it’s difficult for any of us to imagine the pain
and discomfort Shiki had to endure. Groans and gasps from the
audience are almost audible. Yet, despite this compelling account
of Shiki’s immense pain and torment, I for one, still feel as if
I have some kind of affinity with him. We often like to think we
have an affinity with our heroes, whether it be personal
attributes or some other shared trait. Making such a connection,
we prescribe for ourselves the belief that we have a secret
understanding with the people we admire. I don’t share any
personal attributes with Shiki – except that I was born almost
exactly 100 years after he died, and that a serious back operation
left me bed-ridden for a year. But, Shiki was the first haijin to
‘talk to me’. As I sit here listening to the presentations and
the numerous renditions of Shiki’s poems, his voice becomes
louder and clearer. I start believing that Shiki, a world apart
from me, could see what I see. Almost immediately, I dismiss this
notion as implausible, realising that affinity is a penchant. I
simply like his poems.
Inevitably,
in keeping with the wont of the West, the conference turns
to the thorny issue of juxtaposition. A comedic volley of
definitions (apparently based on national borders) is
thrown towards the chair whose instant reaction is to head
for the flip chart. As
if to underline the folly of obsessing about this oft
employed but redoubtable feature of haiku in the West, the
tweed clad Susumu Takiguchi takes his pen and
inadvertently scribbles on the flip chart the word ‘justaposition’.
The discussion ends there with resounding laughter.
Remarkably
and memorably, my earlier pondering of affinity is acted
out at the end of the conference. During the evening
reception, Charles Lind, a haiku nut of the most
discerning kind presents Susumu with a persimmon. Slowly
and in raptured silence, Susumu unwraps and then peels the
persimmon. The gasps and groans from the audience are
audible this time. We all clamour around for a slice as if
trying to re-enact our favourite Shiki haiku moment. It is
a solemn yet electrifying experience at once.
arriving
home
I break and enter
the spider’s web |
Photos from WHC Re-appraising Shiki Masaoka Conference, courtesy
Paul Conneally, UK.
See
the Programme from
WHC Re-appraising
Shiki
Masaoka Conference
Click
here for gallery
