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Editor's
Choice - Shortverses |
 |
and
that's all I need ... |
One short verse
selected by D.W. Bender
...that's
all I need...and this remote control, and that's all...and
this recliner; I need this
recliner...
When the kids grow up and leave
home, married folk often downsize their living spaces and possessions. When
people are chronically ill or in harsh situations, they may find themselves
focusing only on the essentials of life. The older I get, the more and more I
want to shed things that have been accumulated and have become
unessential. How true it is that whatever you own, including beliefs and
desires, can end up owning you. I once read of a couple who began to sell those
belongings that seemed frivolous or no longer necessary in order to give the
proceeds to a worthy cause. They found the experience to be so liberating, that
as their possessions were dwindling, they looked joyfully toward finding the
next thing they could do without—for the freedom they would enjoy as a
result, as well as the prospect of how their giving would be helping others.
Freedom. That word is in the news continuously, these days. How is freedom
acquired inwardly and/or outwardly in any situation? What is the cost? Its
rewards?
Upon reading his two excellent
tanka on a WHC mailing list, I asked the author, tenzing (known as Dennis
Dutton in a former life) if he might submit them for this issue's
WHCshortverses column. He had head-noted his verses: "these tanka are both
written after several 'I, who' tanka by Shiki in a favorite book, From the
Country of Eight Islands edited by Sato and Watson." tenzing's tanka
have often caught my eye for their poetic beauty, and his clear perceptions of
his own and the universal human nature. The one selected for Editor's Choice
speaks of the human desire for freedom. WHC has been observing Shiki's death in
a two-year centennial celebration. Although not selected for that reason, it
seems especially fitting that both tenzing's tanka, inspired by Shiki, should be
among the Shortverses
selections. And also, that in a time of war, a tanka on 'freedom'—although in a very different application than political strife—should be the
chosen short verse for Editor's Choice:
I, who
have almost nothing,
want little
beyond freedom from this,
freedom from that.
Karma Tenzing Wangchuk
Interestingly, a group of poets on
one of WHC's lists was discussing tanka over the past week or two. Some members
had posted tanka without environmental nature references. Instead they presented
human situations, much like tenzing's does. A lively discussion ensued about
differences and similarities between tanka and haiku, tanka and the old court
waka. One of the members touched particularly on the history of tanka,
especially during the Meiji and Showa periods of Japan, when poets radically
changed the face of traditional 5-7-5-7-7 waka from the courtly style, birthing
modern tanka. The form was revived with a dynamic new life while maintaining
many similarities. Some poets of the era began to employ the kind of narrative
as tenzing's tanka uses. His contains a confessional tone which is classic to
many tanka and waka. tenzing's tanka has grasped a psychological truth clearly
and honestly. It is real—it is the truth—and hearing the truth about
ourselves can be uncomfortably funny, especially when we recognize the situation
of another as our own. A strong, conceptual narrative tanka can make us laugh or
smile in agreement, perhaps with some tears of sadness for the human condition.
Ah, tenzing is in the same boat as the rest of us, although he has sailed off to
someplace in Greece...
Musings: tenzing's poem comes from
his own experience, a sketch from life, like Shiki's shasei technique which was
developed by the great poet and employed in both haiku and tanka, though
tenzing's is a sketch of the inner life, of a spiritual conflict. As a lay
Buddhist monk, tenzing lives a life of poverty, having very little in material
"things". I am reminded of Basho
giving up his status as a successful haikai master in a large Edo town, Nihon-Boshi
to live on the Sumida River, from where he departed for his poetic wanderings.
To live frugally is considered, in more than one religious order and among some
individual seekers, a virtue. Although we may desire comfort and security, most
of us, to some degree, recognize that acquisition of material wealth or social
status in any endeavor may bring only temporary satisfaction. In fact, if
acquisition becomes a focus which gets out of hand, it could be truly
detrimental to ourselves and the wider world to which we belong. Yet, in the
very act of casting away those things, the seeker may find himself to also be
shackled by many set-in values and habits that can be equally or even more
detrimental to freedom and growth. As he seeks to be free from desires, the
spiritual man soon discovers that even longings for freedom ("from this
thing and that thing") are also desires, just as are desires for
material, emotional -- or even spiritual fulfillment. Trying to free ourselves
from desires can make it worse. How complex and tangled we seem to be.
An underlying question posed in
tenzing's tanka is 'how can a person live contentedly and at peace whether with
or without "this or that"—in any situation—not attached to, nor
striving to attain, nor trying to be freed of anything —not desiring anything—in any state, abasement or abundance?' tenzing approaches the human dilemma
through this crisp tanka with a detached, somewhat resigned sense of humor. It
is poignant and compelling in its sense of pathos. These are just some of the
charms of the genre. Will tanka become as popular in the West as the haiku? With
fewer restrictions than the haiku, tanka can be used to engage subjects of all
kinds. Tanka can be an expressive outlet, especially when deep emotions or
uncertainties of life are felt...especially in times like these...
(...And I need is this
poetry...and that's all...)
