marlene mountain
as was/is
1999

 

7/21/99

since women

since women had no voice or weren't paid attention in haiku [as in all patriarchal art eras including today's--w/the occasional exceptions] . . . then as a woman i can define [tho maybe without words other than those in the haiku] my haiku for myself. not redefine but define ie find. in such light i can view haiku as a woman and if necessary find it's viewpoint wanting.

it may take women and men a lifetime to rid ourselves of oppressive male views on everything in the world for the last 6000 years but it can/should be done. in a patriarchal world this is the 'highest' moment keenly perceived. not easy and not easy to live with. females shouldn't have the larger burden to do so. in fact males should face head-on the many redefinitions imposed on the original world. as it is so far most merely re-redefine when/if they can. and/or make those patches.

if there's any one thing i would like understood someday about my thinking within haiku in the last 20 some years it's the above. the first 10 + years are merely my creativity; the rest as trying to understand things as i grew within a rootical view. this allows me to leap over the definition, rules & regs, etc problems per se--plenty of people available to sort these out if they gotta altho i like to goad sometimes. it's no longer of interest other than how lousy western definitions are/have been. in the 80s i found how they had hurt my spirit. this resolved as i was able to apply my understanding of the transition from matristic views to patriarchal views. 'at the root' is where i think education begins. the scariest journey of all. where innocence is lost. yet where one can find the beginning of choice.

and particularly on the haiku level to find out if japan's notion of nature and/or nature in art is compatible with one's own direct experience. i have found that it isn't or that it's lacking which causes me to reflect on my own 'isn't'/lacking attitudes. and that most of its proponents don't want to accept the obvious changes in nature ie write of them because that's not compatible with the haiku spirit. at least here i've added to the content in my round about ways as well as with direct anger which comes from my anger at myself. that doesn't mean i've taken away from haiku tho some seem to think so. i think nature expects us to write on all aspects of her if we're going to write on her at all.

back to 'as is 90s contents'