What is HOKKU ?

Hokku is not nature poetry. Descriptions of nature are illustrations and oftentimes insightful. Empty your mind of all preconceptions. See what you are viewing with an empty slate. Become the pine tree. Become the river. Become the whale breeching the tidal flow. BECOME instead of viewing. Experience impermanence. Become the wet paint on zôka's brush. Complexity exudes from this brush just as all life is complex. Basho layered his hokku with multiple meanings and never just described. He allowed ample room for a reader's interpretation. Use Japanese aesthetics. They are styles (tools) essential to the genre. Without them, your poetry will fall flat and be non-memorable.

Robert D. Wilson

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raven shadows -
the mountain inclines
towards dusk

Sandi Pray



- ظلال الغربان
الجبل يميل
نحو الغسق

*الغسق: غروب الشمس

Robert D. Wilson:
This is an exceptional hokku. It doesn't tell all. It isn't a word painting. It gives us a glimpse of nature's creativity. It is activity (objective/koto) biased. It stimulates thought and interpretation. It is becomingness-centric. It is a hokku not a haiku. It utilized Aesthetic styles: yugen, kikoro, wabi, and ma.

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tattered clouds –
the moon's whiteness is
icier tonight

Johannes Manjrekar

-غيوم بالية
بياض الجبل
اكثر بردوة الليلة

Robert D. Wilson:
Lines 2-3 carry a lot of impact, Johannes. It is more than a simple nature sketch or word painting. There is depth and mystery (yugen) and a sense of aloneness.

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