I discovered The CryptoNaturalist over at the other place, and ending up buying ‘Field Guide to the Haunted Forest’ and ‘Love Notes from the Hollow Tree’ by Jarod K. Anderson…
Which is unusual for me as I detest poetry. I think it’s a pile of long-winded, navel gazing wank…Except for haiku, (because they’re short and sweet, and condense things down to their essence, which I like).
I like The CryptoNaturalist though, probably because they write about nature in a weird, beautiful and wonderous way. I want to use the word ‘magical’ to describe it, but am reluctant, for reasons
Also, thanks to this post I just found out there’s a couple of other books available which I’m going to buy tonight 😀
I think it’s a pile of long-winded, navel gazing wank
Tell me you’re British, without telling me you’re British . . .
I rather like this one…
wearily she waves
the white flag of surrender
cobwebbed butterfly
—Tracy Davidson from here
Pawprints fade, empty
Silence fills the empty space
Love lives on, always
From here
I sometimes feel that the classic haiku are let down by some translations, and the fact there are Japanese words that don’t translate across very well or at all.
I have a soft spot for this one
The old pond,
A frog jumps in:
Plop!
Translated by Alan Watts from here
It’s interesting to see how each translation differs, and tries to put into English something that is probably untranslatable…also…
pond
frog
plop!
Translated by James Kirkup
‘The sound of water’ ‘kerplunk’ ‘splashing the water’ ‘leap, splash’ ‘water note’ …just don’t capture it for me
Do you know any that are decent?
