I’ve got to stop being surprised when people don’t fit into the little
pigeonholes that still inhabit the nether regions of my psyche. That’s
especially true when it comes to who does or doesn’t take a shine
to haiku poetry (or to this website). After all, it was your humble editor
who penned “yes, lawyers & haiku” twenty-five months ago, when
ethicalEsq was transformed into a punditry+haiku-advocacy weblog.
This post memorializes my most pleasant surprise over the intense
interest in haikai (and its many controversial/conflicting rules) demon-
is “the Eye on Attorneys General” of the American Enterprise Institute’s
Federalism Project. We communicated for the first time on Jan. 5th,
when I sent Will a heads-up about our post on The State Center. Will
thanked me for the information with a “haiku” — that he admitted was
tips on writing “real” haiku.
stepping on
sidewalk ants the boy
everyone bullies
Tonight, I found out how dangerous it can be to willy-nilly turn someone
on to the mysteries and miseries of haiku, and its definition and creation.
The result was the AG Watch post Let’s Zappai the Whole Thing (Jan. 7,
2006), in which Will uses George Swede’s guidelines for writing haiku
as the framework for questioning the wisdom of having 50 state attorneys
general enforce the antitrust laws. After pointing out the similarities
between haiku and antitrust (especially their superficial simplicity, which
makes them seem “easy to do”), Will says:
“Given the general similarities between antitrust and haiku,
perhaps George Swede’s five guidelines of haiku, read broadly,
can illuminate state antitrust oversight as well.”
No matter your perspective on antitrust or federalized antitrust, Will’s tour
de force is a great read, and is thought-provoking. I’m pleased to have
instigated his burst of creativity (while suspicious that he might have
been avoiding some other deadline), and grateful that Will has become
a fan of haiku and this website and is exposing both to the readers of
his weblog. And, I was just trying to be a smart-aleck.
update (Jan. 9, 2006): Will’s application of the rules of haiku to
antitrust, inspired Bert Foer of the American Antitrust Institute
to reread The Spell of the Gherkin, a stirring poetic tale penned
in 2002 by former FTC Commissioner Tom Leary (with apologies
to Robert W. Service’s “The Spell of the Yukon“). In Leary’s
“Gherkin,” heroic civil servants (armed with their equations),
struggled to keep the price of a pickle within arm’s reach of every
American.
Here are two sample verses (haikuEsq won’t let me show
more):
The Spell of the Gherkin (excerpts)
We here unveil a gentler tale,
Which still will stir the blood,
Where heroes try, in coat and tie,
To serve the public good.
. . .
I’ll say: “My lad, you’ve never had
A moment so sublime
As that shining hour when market power
Was checked in the nick of time!”
You can find some serious materials on antitrust,
consumer protection, economic analysis and more
by Com’r Leary on his FTC speeches page.
“tinyredcheck” What a great excuse to highlight George Swede’s
haiku and senryu! Some may even be relevant to the great
AG debate.
nobody on the street
stray dog stops to bite
its wagging tail
abandoned factory
a cloud rests
on the smokestack
windowless office
a fly buzzes against
my glasses
in the howling wind
under the full moon
the snowman, headless
The beetle I righted
flies straight into
a cobweb
one button undone
in the clerk’s blouse I let her
steal my change
town dump
two magpies jabber
on an old brass bed
fierce wind
street sweeper has
another coffee
statues in the square
the raised hand of the war hero
fills with snow
“oilCanHS”
putting holes
in my argument
the woodpecker
All of the above poems
from Almost Unseen (Brooks Books, 2000)
High in the bare tree
with the ocean view
a nest full of leaves
mainichi news (No. 679, Jan. 2, 2006)
Abandoned barn
one bale of hay with twine
unraveling
loose change: HSA 2006
“boyblackboard”
p.s. Here are George Swede’s Five Basic Rules
for good haiku:
1. haiku must be brief: one breath long
2. haiku must express sense of awe or insight
3. haiku must involve some aspect of nature other than
human nature
4. haiku must possess sense images, not generalizations
5. haiku must present an event as happening presently,
not past or future
January 8, 2006
AEI, oh, you?
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