a dreaming forest busy as Hitchcock

*

linear radio the triangle in rope’s darker receptacles

*

traffic snarl the wolf with me plays dog

*

when yellow is round I miss your apostrophe

*

into the day
of disappearing corners
the Vega star

*

plasma rain
the moon clicks
its QR code

Alan Summers

18 thoughts on “”

    2. Thanks Paul,

      Although with any poem there can be a serious “underlay”.

      Underlay has two meanings, the second one being:
      “In music, underlay refers to text intended for vocalization – positioned either directly or indirectly under notes on a musical staff.”

      So although they appear quirky, which is part intended, there are ‘under-meanings’ too:

      a dreaming forest busy as Hitchcock

      This is both a play on Hitchcock’s film Birds, and for of course where Alma Reville was often responsible for the edginess in his films, most famously and allegedly creating the shower scene in Psycho that still makes some of us nervous when alone in our home or elsewhere with a shower curtain obscuring our view, if we hear a noise in the next room, or at the entrance door. A forest is both a dreamlike place, but it is a business for natural residents from birds to four legged animals undertaking what they have to do to survive each day. We are not only destroying forests, and woodlands, but each property development, where with existing buildings or not, have trees unnecessarily destroyed. We don’t seem to respect the homes of other animals, and after all we are but another animal species, aren’t we?

      *

      linear radio the triangle in rope’s darker receptacles

      Ah, the media, including radio, say no more regarding various political and corporate shenanigans and spin-doctoring.

      *

      traffic snarl the wolf with me plays dog

      Road rage perhaps? Transport has been neglected for the ordinary folk, and who is the wolf and who plays dog?

      *

      when yellow is round I miss your apostrophe

      Perhaps just for fun and mystery. It’s also part of ongoing giallo/yellow series of haiku and haibun/tanka stories. 🙂

      *

      into the day
      of disappearing corners
      the Vega star

      Who doesn’t like to see a star in the sky, however difficult in our 24/7 let’s put on the lights even if the building is closed for the night. 🙂

      *

      plasma rain
      the moon clicks
      its QR code

      Very matrix! Of course two big corporate companies famously wanted to project their brands onto the moon’s surface so the world’s people would have to lose the glorious sight, lose its romance and mystery, for the sake of some fast food/drink/clothing product. Aren’t we all QR codes? Think Steven Spielberg’s speculative/SF movie Minority Report (2002).

      So there you are, and now back to your violin, or mine. 🙂

      Oh, and violins have their dark side:

      *

      trucks in the violin mimicries of D-sharp minor

      Alan Summers
      Publication Credit: Otoliths ed.Mark Young (Feburary 2017)
      Not when she’s in Kansas haiku sequence haibun hybrid

      *

      It’s far too dark to explain, so please keep it as a mystery to understand.

      As always, I deeply appreciate your support, your humour, and haiku companionship.

      warmest regards,
      Alan

      Liked by 2 people

      Reply

      1. Hi Alan,

        Many thanks for these underlays to your intriguing haiku.

        I’d sort of half worked-out the “dreaming forest”, and I’m right with you in your environmental concern and the need to do right by all the other animal species we share the planet with.

        I really like the “Vega star”. Curiously though, the haiku which comes back to me often, not when I’m driving, but as Maureen and I rush to complete our final packing, with our house move seemingly almost upon us now, after weeks of frustrating delays in our new place being made ready for us, is the “wolf” playing “dog”.

        As for “trucks in the violin”, I like a dark mystery, so I shall refrain from taking a hansom cab back to Baker Street over this one.

        Your haiku companionship means a lot to me too!

        Warmest regards,

        Paul

        Liked by 2 people

  5. Thank you Paul! Deeply appreciated.

    Yes, the violins is about a very dark part of 20th Century history, although it’s been repeated in this one, but by different people.

    All the best in your move. We moved a few years back just a few weeks before Christmas, and it was magical. But I’m sure this tail end of Spring is special too! 🙂

    warmest regards,
    Alan

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

    1. Thanks again, Alan.

      The meaning of your “trucks in the violin” haiku is plain to me now and I quite understand your reluctance to explain it. When I stopped thinking about the verse and simply felt it, I knew…

      You’ve demonstrated here how haiku, with its extreme brevity, pinning images in the mind instantly, may be used to help ensure that the horrors of history are never forgotten, and the lessons learnt are truly driven home.

      Back to packing now – gosh, it’s an exhausting business!

      My very best,

      Paul

      Liked by 2 people

      Reply

  6. Thanks Paul, that’s an incredible useful comment to make, as poems are not logic first and poem second. They may be in reverse order or equal order, or become something that says more than just one incident but many.

    Many thanks!

    Yes, moving, especially as we are as bad as the Victorians in collecting more than we need, can be close to being a military logistical solution to be solved. 🙂

    warm regards,
    Alan

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

Leave a comment