"Existential Themes in Haiku, Part 1"
"Existential Themes in Haiku, Part 1"
by Robert Epstein
Poetry in general, and nature-based haiku in particular, speak to the deepest stirrings of the human spirit. In fact, I was drawn to haiku many years ago because the poetry touched me, and deeply. I felt that the poets who wrote haiku were sincere and genuinely desirous of transmitting what they discovered. I discerned an earnestness and a subtle passion in their poetic voice. And, as they were intent on tuning into and learning from nature, broadly conceived, I was especially enlivened by the possibility of benefit- ing from their discoveries, which I found very inspiring. Through haiku poetry the inexpressible finds poignant expression, very much as it does in music. Indeed, poetry may be thought of, at least in part, as the ineffable set to music, poetically speaking. Insofar as this is true, poetry offers a pathway to wholeness that bypasses the limitations of language and everyday consciousness.
As a practicing psychotherapist, I have used haiku and senryu in the context of exploring various themes—usually existential—which often arise in the course of therapy.1 I do my best to share the poems that come to mind in an understated and unobtrusive way, as I have no wish to sound pedantic, nor do I want to turn self-exploration into a literary diversion, which would take clients out of the emotionally aware place they are leaning into. Rather, I make passing reference to a poem that comes to mind as I am listening to the client recount his or her experience and share it, almost parenthetically, in the moment.2 The client may pause to reflect on the haiku or not, though sometimes the person’s reaction may occur later in our meeting, suggesting it’s had some impact, however subtle.
What impels me to turn to haiku in the context of the psycho- therapy work I do? I couldn’t find a better or more accurate rationale than in the following passage by haiku poet, professor and publisher, Randy Brooks, quoted in Lighting the Global Lantern, a book about teaching haiku to adolescents and young adults. Although Professor Brooks is not speaking explicitly about the therapeutic potential of haiku, I believe it is precisely the reasons he outlines in general which prompt me to include haiku in therapy:
But what does haiku ask of us? To be alive. To feel. To know this is the way it is. To enjoy the moment. To laugh. To remember with all of our sensory associations. To imagine being here and here and here again. It takes us from here to here again. Haiku doesn’t resolve a thing! It solves no problems! Haiku doesn’t ask us to change who we are. A haiku doesn’t ask us to pretend we are someone other than ourselves We love haiku because it has no purpose other than to be, to feel, to love life.
Against the background of Professor Brooks’ view of haiku, I realized that I have been quietly reading with a therapeutic ear for existential themes from Basho, Buson and Issa to the present. In this essay, I would like to highlight some of these themes, which may point the way to self-healing—the recovery of one’s sense of aliveness and well-being. . . .
