hosts : Sanjuktaa Asopa & Kashiana Singh
the stories
we tell ourselves
mockingbird
---- Valorie Broadhurst Woerdehoff
(Modern Haiku 53:3, Autumn 2022; Daily Haiku, "Charlotte Digregario's Writer's Blog, Nov 17, 2022)
open sky :: SAMVAAD | 23rd April
Updated: Apr 26, 2023
This ku has always been a little bit of an enigma to me. All I know is that they are somebody else's stories . Not mine. Just as Susan Furst says.Destroying of innocence? Never saw it in that light. But it's a beautiful possibility.
Here is what the poet says:
As regards how the haiku came about, I have to thank a retired professor/mentor of mine who I was visiting for making me more aware of mockingbirds, and how they mimic other birds, insects, etc. At the time, I was undergoing a "long dark night of the soul" of sorts, and was coming to grips with the fact that it can be too easy to accept fake narratives about the…
This very short poem has a lot to say. Kala, I like your take on this, the destroying of innocence.
Some questions i asked myself upon reading Valorie's poem. What are the stories we tell ourselves? Are they true? Do they help us to survive? How long do we hold onto them even when the evidence of a thing says differently? Do these stories serve to puff us up or keep us as victims? Are these stories a repetition of someone else's story or are they our own? So many questions. And then there are the stories society tells us. Or our holy books. Or our media. How do you know the truth?
It reminded me of the classic: To Kill a Mockingbird . In this story of innocence destroyed by evil, the 'mockingbird' comes to represent the idea of innocence. Thus, to kill a mockingbird is to destroy innocence. the stories
we tell ourselves
mockingbird
The other take is that we do tell ourselves stories - made-up stories and it's almost like the 'moching bird' was mocking at us! I don't know whether these reasonings are anywhere near Valorie's reasons for writing this poem! I like it a lot.
No comments from anybody? We would love to hear what you have to say before posting Valorie's story tomorrow.