hosts: Sanjuktaa Asopa & Vandana Parashar
by the way forget me nots
---- John Hawkhead
(Presence Magazine, Issue 70, 2021)
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hosts: Sanjuktaa Asopa & Vandana Parashar
by the way forget me nots
---- John Hawkhead
(Presence Magazine, Issue 70, 2021)
I would like to share what John said about his haiku. He says—
“I have been interested in embedding as many meanings as I can in short poems for some time and many of my haiku and senryu deal with the memory of fleeting moments. In this case the phrase 'by the way' has two meanings: 'by the wayside' and 'by the way - think about this'. I also love the old folk names for flowers such as 'forget-me-nots' and these coincident ideas came together as I was writing in our small garden. I have to admit I'm pleased with the result as it reminds me to keep noticing the small things - they are often the most enlightening!”
Hi Lakshmi,
This is a very clever one-line haiku, don't you think?
First, 'by the way' could refer to the physical location of the 'forget-me-nots' - on the way from home to store, for example, or perhaps, planted along a pathway or a walkway in someone's yard.
'by the way' is often used as a way to add forgotten information to a conversation or an utterance. As in, I really enjoy reading haiku and by the way, have you read this one by John Hawkhead?
'by the way' also reads to me like an off-hand remark that captures a bit of a haiku moment. Perhaps the speaker is passing by a garden and happens to notice the 'forget-me-nots' for the…
'by the way'
Such a common phrase used for many tones and dialects.
'by the way this pandemic'
'by the way May Day'
(Does this take us to the context of May day? Only readers can tell)
So many and i didn't know this would take this form!
Is this called 'Wordless' to go by the meaning?
Thank you.