a homeless man clutches
his bottle of wine
--Bouwe Brouwer, The Netherlands
When i read Bouwe's haiku, i sighed; not out of despair, but of ennui, since life is not always kind; and very often, all that is left is the solace of impermanence; just like the homeless man, whom Bouwe sees, who is invisible to many; maybe even the Fates one might philosophically argue.
“Nature's first green is gold,
Her hardest hue to hold.
Her early leaf's a flower;
But only so an hour.
Then leaf subsides to leaf.
So Eden sank to grief,
So dawn goes down to day.
Nothing gold can stay.”
― Robert Frost
Despair resonates in Bouwe's haiku, like a grey shadowy hand in an impressionist canvas. His use of the kigo given is dramatic and bold. There is no bright maybe in between. At the mercy of the the elements this is exactly what each one of us do. We grasp, we cling, we clutch whatever proves to be for us, salvation.
In a shadowy canvas Bouwe's throws so much light on humanity's frailness. There in quite a tale well told.
He omits the kireji offering a Line Two that pivots and allows for dimension in his haiku
Well Done Bouwe
gillena cox
Caribbean Kigo Kukai - founder/co ordinator
The kigo for this kukai was stormy weather
