Ray Rasmussen
Quest
after tortured months of covid
I’ve settled on “Rosinante” as the name
not of my new steed
but of my red camper
she’s loaded
not with instruments of war
but with canoe and bicycle
and a beer-filled ice chest
we’re off to challenge
not windmills
but the waterways
of Algonquin lakes
not to rescue damsels
from dragons
but to enjoy the flight
of scarlet damselflies
released: my lure flies out
over clear blue waters
Plunk!
Notes:
- Haiku is after Basho’s: the old pond / a frog jumps in: / Plop! (trans. Alan Watts)
- No one can really know what Basho had in mind when writing his (most famous) poem. I always wondered why various haijin over the years of haiku-in-English popularity thought it so exceptional, aka I didn’t really get it. After musing about it each time I came across it, and reading the thoughts of others about possible meanings, I’ve come to my own thoughts about the poem. An old pond can be thought of as the mindset of a travel-weary poet. As he wanders around a pond he hears the sound of a frog jumping in. The sound awakens him from his musings (even Basho may have had “head noise”) and brings him into the “now” of the pond.
- An early version of this haibun was written for a 50-words-or less challenge and published in Michael Rehling’s Failed Haiku: A Journal of English Senryu. The present version is 74 words.
About the Author
Ray Rasmussen has served as an editor for a variety of haibun journals. His haibun, haiga and haiku have been published in numerous journals and some have been republished in anthologies. He lives with his partner Nancy in a cottage in a mixed hardwood Ontario forest acreage. Together they enjoy writing, fabric arts, photography, bicycling, canoeing and hiking.
Awesome guy
with a really nice truck.
Vrooom
Thx for the poem, Buddy.
I like the verse-like pattern in the prose. And of course, “Rosinante” looks great. Happy travels!
Thx for the comment, Martin. Nice to see your piece in this issue.
My take on Basho haiku is the old pond is our mind and the the frog jumping in is a desire. Desires cause waves in our mind and of course the thoughts arising going and coming of the waves are noise created in the mind which makes us restless. Those who believe in rebirth of the soul will tell you the mind goes back for ages with us and therefore can be seen as an ancient pond. We need to take care of those frogs that make noise in the otherwise placid pond of the mind. That is the goal of life. This may be a subtle illusive message of Basho which subconsciously the read feel important.