A Simple Haiku - April 11 2021

 

A Simple Haiku

April 11 2021

 

The Chinese philosopher urged

“to attain wisdom

subtract things every day.”

 

And the famous sculptor taught

that perfection is attained

“when nothing is left

to take away.”

 

The Haiku.

A blade of grass.

The perfect note

that breaks a glass.

 

The drowning man's

singular perception.

Ascetic monks

and silent vows,

the simple life

distilled down to its essence.

 

So less is more.

The inverted arithmetic

of addition by subtraction.

 

Yet all my layers

and complications

and fervent angst.

 

If only I could still my mind

if even for a moment.

Could prune and pare and hone

these conflicting thoughts

overwrought emotion

to a 3-line poem,

essential words

I would learn by heart.

 

A simple Haiku

devoted to you

and whispered into your ear.

 

I was reading this article today on how we shouldn't be so anxious to get back to normal after the Covid pandemic. That some things have been lost, but perhaps some we're better off without.  That maybe this is a chance to discover that less can be more. And, of course, this dovetails perfectly with what I've found in trying my hand at poetry all these years: less really is more. (Except when it isn't!) What I really liked in the article were the two quotes that begin this poem. So I stole those, and wrote on from there.

The first is apparently Lao Tzu. And the second attributed to Leonardo da Vinci.

Now, as to the breaking glass. There is a famous commercial for Memorex audio tape that dates from the 1970s. They had the jazz great Ella Fitzgerald sing a note so purely and powerfully that with just her voice she could shatter a wine glass. Then, to demonstrate the fidelity of the recording, they played her back on tape and a new glass shattered just the same. The tag line became a bit of a popular saying: “Is it live, or is it Memorex?” I tried to find the particular note that breaks glass. Apparently, there is no single one. It depends on the glass. And as to Ella's demonstration, I couldn't find a mention of the note she hit. So in the poem, it is simply the perfect note.