| y sound like a tasty sushi dish, but the concept of | | | | Now, lines 2 and 3 really have no poetic effect by |
| wabi/sabi is a Japanese idea that literally means | | | | themselves. But, when combined with the sentence |
| "sweet sadness." It's a feeling one may have when | | | | fragment "winter sun," we get what many have |
| winter is approaching and you notice the change in | | | | called an absolute metaphor.. a snapshot if you will of |
| nature's cycles. It's a feeling of impermanence that | | | | a moment in time. And it is precisely this moment in |
| surrounds all living things on this planet. Nothing lasts | | | | time that creates the wabi/sabi affect! |
| and this idea finds its expression well in haiku poetry. | | | | Nothing lasts. Not the winter, not the sun's position, |
| For instance, look at this haiku poem by Bruce | | | | and surely, not an incident so small as the crackling of |
| Ross;winter sun...the pigeons foot cracklesa dry leaf | | | | a dry leaf. Yet these seemingly small events are |
| The first line suggests the time of year and the | | | | what life is about. To catch them is the haiku poet's |
| general ambiance of the day. It is wintertime and as | | | | job and it is done superbly in this poem. When we |
| we all know, the sun's position and relative affect on | | | | read this haiku as a whole, we come away with that |
| the earth is quite different during this season. Lines | | | | sweet sadness that most of us have felt at one |
| two and three complete the poem and focus, quite | | | | time or another. We realize that this life is only |
| remarkably I might add, on the activity of a pigeon. | | | | temporary and that each "small" act is a miracle in |
| Here, the pigeon happens to walk on a dry leaf and | | | | itself. |
| the leaf crackles because of it. | | | | |
