Haiga Showcase: John Burgess
My haiku form and content are a mashup of inspiration from Japanese free-style poets, American Beats, and poetry comics. The free-verse haiku of Japanese poets Hōsai (1885-1926) and Santōka (1882-1940) are among my favorite poetry. American Beats expanded the Western haiku for me—for example, Kerouac’s Book of Haikus and Ginsberg’s “American Sentences.” I studied shodo (Japanese calligraphy) for more than 30 years, which gave me an appreciation of white space. Aligned with the aesthetic of haiga, comics provide a way for me to use my drawing skills to add context to my haiku.
—John Burgess (J.B.)
Commentary
By Ron C. Moss, Haiga Editor
I’m very pleased to feature John Burgess’s comic strip–style haiga—they are so much fun. He’s continuing the longstanding Eastern practice of including humor in ink painting, while also melding it with the Western styling of a comic strip that so many of us grew up with. “Sunday afternoon” is a good example. It’s very minimal, from the carefully chosen words to the few well-drawn lines, with enough open space for the reader to complete the haiga’s links. (You will see them all if you look closely.)
“Day lingers on” has a feeling of mystery and movement—the silhouette of the mountains changes with each panel, again opening the creative space. The panel with no words just adds another layer of suspense and deepens the impact of “waiting” in the last frame.
I love how “Cruel reminder” captures the changing expression of the character (who, based on the headshot at the top of this page, represents the artist himself). The poem is lovely and carries a timeless message with which we can all identify, encouraging us to be the best we can be in every fleeting moment.
“Late summer morning” has the look and feel of a puzzle; each time I view it, I see different connotations. Like a great haiku or senryu, the haiga leaves the door wide open for us to contemplate our own meanings from the few well-crafted words and lines. I commend John for his haiku comics, and encourage you to give it a go yourselves. I know I will.
About the Artist
John Burgess (J.B.) grew up in upstate New York, worked on a survey crew in Montana, and taught English in Japan He’s now retired and writes and draws in Seattle. His influences include ’70s punk, Montana bars, and Japanese haiku. He has six books of poetry from Ravenna Press, each interwoven with an increasing number of maps, graphs, and comics. He’s been writing haiku for over 40 years. For the past 10 years he’s been creating poetry comics and haiku comics, and since 2022 he’s been researching “A History of Poetry Comics.” See more at punkpoet.net/blog.