In this new feature, the editors, as a group, will pick one haiku from the previous issue as the overall favorite. We'll each try to explain what we like about it and why we picked it. Then, on the second page of this feature, we will each pick an individual favorite from the previous issue and try to explain our choices.
Mark Brooks writes
A haiku close to home. My three-year old has a fleet of die-cast vehicles and is quite fond of snails.
Tom Clausen's haiku is a good choice for haijinx as it shows an overall acceptance of things as they are. This 'childlike' acceptance is a key element of the lightness of haiku humor.
In this case, the snail accepts the ride on the matchbox truck, the girl accepts the snail and the truck as playthings, the snail accepts the end of playtime. They both seek out new interests and, we assume, they are content with the time spent together.
alan j summers writes:
Isn't childhood innocence, naturalness, and curiosity fascinating? It is to me. A delightful state that appeals to me, and would love to revisit away from our so called adult sophisicated lifestyle.
I take this as a little girl who does not judge a snail as slimey and horrible. She has a little toy truck. Only natural to 'give it a lift' as it moves so slowly!
Then she is distracted by another wonder of the world she is only just exploring. Of course the snail moves on as well. It has its life and she has hers. They crossed briefly.
A wonderfully simple haiku that has great depth. The depth of innocence, of seeing the world in non-judgemental ways. They both have their natural instincts to follow. We, as adults, sometimes forget this, when we 'grow up'.
Serge Tomé writes:
Quite the end of a tale . . .
I like:
— the idea of a special moment in which two different worlds (the human's and Nature) has met. Just for a moment. A snail is surely not a domestic animal. So, it couldn't be tamed. And here, it is like it did the play. These two worlds met, without any communication and they have done something, and perhaps communicated.
— the illustration of a moment : this haiku tells about a very short moment. We are here at the end of the "état de grace", the magical moment where things are the way we wish they were.
— the dynamic : after the play, everyone returns to their own world. We have two opposite movements.
— the fragility of this past instant illustrated by the image of the matchbox truck.
— the humour : we smile because we see the scene and also because of our pleasure to have believed the story.
Carmen Sterba writes:
It is so typical of human beings to lose interest quickly. In this case though the subject is not a book that can be easily set aside or tv channels that are swiftly changed. Instead, it is a living creature which when left alone nonchalantly frees itself. Though the child and snail are a nice contrast, it is the similiarity of their slow exits that causes us to smile. This is an original.
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