in the hush
charcoal kindling cracks
hearth of hearts
© 2023 selmamartin.com
*Haiku, haikai
- If you’ve ever heard of Matsuo Bashō, you know he was the greatest figure active in Japanese haikai during the latter half of the seventeenth century. Bashō made his life’s work the transformation of haikai into a literary genre. For him, haikai involved a combination of comic playfulness and spiritual depth, ascetic practice, and involvement in human society.
- During his forty-nine years, Matsuo Bashō composed haikai masterpieces in various genres and reinvented the form of the haiku. He linked verses as they were practiced in his youth and gave them the power and seriousness they rarely had before.
- In contrast to the traditional Japanese poetry of his day, Bashō’s haikai treated the ordinary, everyday lives of commoners, portraying figures from popular culture such as the beggar, the traveler, and the farmer.
- In crystallizing the newly popular haikai, he played a significant role in giving birth to modern haiku.
*Haiga
(haikai drawing) is a style of Japanese painting that uses the aesthetics of haikai. These drawings are typically painted by haiku poets and are often accompanied by poems.
- Like the poetic form it accompanies, haiga are based on simple, profound observations of the everyday world.
- Stylistically, haiga vary widely based on the preferences and training of the individual painter. The subjects are generally elements mentioned in the calligraphy or poetic images which add meaning or depth to that expressed by the poem.
If I were an artist, I’d add my art to this post. Alas, the photo that houses my haiku is a photograph by Salih Altuntaş from Pixabay. I hope you like my contribution.
I appreciate your readership last year and am grateful for your support again this year. Happy New Year, everyone. I bless you.
I’m a simple woman who dares to see the beauty in ordinary. I’d love to connect with you and like pen pals, I want something beautiful to blossom between us. Will you join me? Selma is my middle name. Its meaning—peaceful, complete, are euphoric affirmations I like to think of myself as having. They compliment the joy I feel when I write. I sincerely hope you decide to join me on my writing journey. I Wish You Miracles.
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Lovely, thank you!
Yours is a lovely soul. Thank YOU.
Lovely hapiness haiku.
Beautiful draw the picture.
I like .
So glad you liked, Raj. Happy new year to you and family. xoxo
I love your poem Selma. It carries the warmth of fire in winter evenings
Yes, winters bring out warmth too. Blessings on your day. xoxo
Thanks Selma 🙏🏼
I think this is one of my favorite poetic forms. Thanks! xoxo
and I think I know why that is so… you have a keep eye for photography and words– you are great with words. perfect. xoxo
A wonderful post and lesson on Haiga. I’ve read Basho but somehow missed learning this history.
Basho’s contribution was enormous. And as a human, a good role model. So glad you read. thanks
Hearth of hearts…what a wonderful thought. (K)
pleases me enormously that you saw and liked that, hearth of hearts, K. Thank you.
A heartwarming haiku, and some interesting background, Selma, thank you!
I appreciate you reading, Ingrid. Blessings to you and your lovely family.
Didn’t know much about the Haiga style, thanks for sharing! Basho is a legend!
Haiga– I am new to this as well. Thanks for reading, sweet Tricia. blessings.
My pleasure! 💝
I love this beautifully strung Haiku with the fire in the background warm and inviting Selma!
❤️
Thanks for reading my hearth of hearts, Cindy. So happy you did. xoxoxoxo
I love this Selma!
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