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Dreams
have been a long-time fascination in both East and West.
So, too, has been the affinity between dreams and poetry.
In Inside Out: Haiku and Dreams, Joseph Kirschner explores
the intersection of dreams and haiku.
The
book is divided into two parts. The first section is theory
based mainly on Jungian psychology. Kirschner discusses
the similarities between dreams and haiku, using dreams
in poetry, and a history of dream use in haiku. There are
key similarities between the two. Images are their “common
currency,” and “poetic images, like dream images,
come unbidden, whenever they want.”
According
to Kirschner, dreams have a long history in haiku. For instance,
Bashô mentioned dreams in at least fifty haiku. To
explore this connection, Kirschner solicited dream haiku,
along with commentary to provide context, from more than
three dozen haiku poets
night
chill—
the hand on my thigh
is my own |
Lee
Gurga’s vivid senryu has the same ingredients that
make dreams powerful: strong imagery, and the element of
surprise. As Kirschner declares, “No surprise? No poetry!”
Combining
dreams and poems can be tricky, however, as Carlos Colón
points out:
dreaming
my best haiku
on paper now
how flat it seems |
Indeed,
readers may find some of the dreams—and the haiku—predictable.
For example, while one poet is making slow progress on a
musical composition, she has the same dream every night.
She’s fleeing her apartment, which is on fire. She
climbs down into an alley filled with smoke, but cannot
reach the clearing ahead. Her dream ends.
Needless
to say, when she finally finishes her composition, the recurring
dream ends. While this is certainly a powerful experience
for the poet, I think the reader will have anticipated it.
This highlights the key difference between dreams and poetry.
Dreams exist for the dreamer. On the other hand, haiku need
to be finely wrought—for they are for the reader too.
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