marlene mountain
as is
1998

 

12/21/98

create our own

graduated from okla u 1962. ada farther southeast. here in the mountains since '71. 101 acres of nature where my heart is. 'dirt rich.' my mind wanders anywhere claiming the here and now not limited by my feet or where i nest. 4 months in japan (1970) and years of reflection on the experience plus other revelations deeply effected my views of haiku. i'm finally--tho relatively only recently--and firmly over the haiku guilt and the haiku cops. a long and painful process tho. quite lonely too, both in content and form. but something i'm now resigned to. tho i've seen some changes over the 30 years.

yet my experiences have led me to agree w/the japanese who said back then that westerners could not possibly write haiku (etc), an art deeply embedded in the culture/politics/attitude. given that we have no choice but to create our own. in my case, expand an art that is not necessarily limited in japan where so much is limited and denied (tho as in all art/science/etc limited by the denial of the female voice). once one gets over that hump--a difficult task for me--then haiku becomes 'natural' within one's own self-imposed notions. maybe we don't expand an art so much as something internal asks us to expand ourselves. at least that's what i'm beginning to understand has been a fate that i very often haven't been ready for. haiku isn't something i've ever enjoyed. maybe that's why i like it and so far have hung in. or hung on.

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