Home Page The Bonsai Forest Appendices

Frogs

Little frog

The Frog Great Haiku

	The splash of a frog Leaping into the water Disturbs the old pond The splash of a frog Its leap into the water New for the old pond Frog sinks in old pool Ever-increasing circles Spread from leaping splash Cause frog; splash effect— Ripples surge through the old pond Newly spread by leap Dive into old pond Through the rippling aftersplash Frog’s and poet’s eyes Behold the old pond Its silence loudly disturbed When frog takes a plunge Pool forms a crater Then slurps its surface over —Swallows a frog-leap Pool rests undisturbed— Shimmering surface shattered By frog’s dive—ker-plash! Old pool long silent Reborn as sounding circles— Leapt upon by frog Old pond ancient pool Frog’s jump leap-frog croaker’s plunge Plop water sounds splash Silent I repose Amphibian leap tempts me— Swallow up frog—plop! There’s this old pool, yeah? And it makes with these sound things— Like this frog jumps, right? The old pool—aha A frog leaps and plunges in The sound of water The sound of a frog In water—plunges and leaps The old pond—aha The old water sound And aha a frog of leaps Plunges in the pool The old water in The pool—aha, a frog leaps And sound of plunges The water sound of Plunges and the frog leaps in— A pool—aha—old

The last four haiku are, in fact, a working-through of a form of DIY haiku; the fourteen words of the "conventional" treatment of Basho’s original in the first haiku of the final sequence of five are rearranged in a more or less indeterminate fashion, after the manner of composers such as Boulez; the reader is invited to continue the experiment. II The First Frog Great Senryu
	Two-sided surfaces I intersect with shock waves —Quick sound, slow ripples… …Even faster light Puts Basho in the picture —Haiku lasts longest Old pond dreams of youth Before noisy frog, Basho —One silent tadpole Haiku’s froggy start Second line no more than sound Then water finish! Basho drowns in pond Big splash—but then no body —The rest is frogmen Full of roguish thoughts Told of challenge—and respond So understated Crawls from restaurant Bellyflops into old pond —Completely legless Basho awaits sound Mist resting on the old pond —Foggy froggy due? Frog bores hole in pond Splasho, Basho. Had enough Grenouille ennui! Frog leaps in old pond Silently—but then she farts Basho got it wrong! Frog leaps in old pond With a sound like five soft gongs —Basho fast asleep! Frog leaps in old pond —Frozen solid since Tuesday Lands on head. Basho! Frog leaps in old pond Press release is not required —Only a sound-bite Frog sits by old pond Sound–Water–Interface–Leap Kermity meeting Post modern frog leaps Pond protests violation Basho plays back tape Ponderous event Playing a game of leap-frog Sound reasons for it Frog~pond~leap~Basho An interesting sound effect Zen see what happens!

III The Second Frog Great Senryu
	A froglet, a leap, Not just a splash and a sound— Angry Soup Dragon Suddenly a lake Is shattered by tsunami— Megafrog leaps in Frog splash—old pond laps Rippling round the swallowed plunge— The rest is silence Suddenly awake, Basho’s dreamt a frog-dive’s splash The rest is silence Suddenly awake, Basho! Frog’s just dived in pond The rest is silence Suddenly awake, Basho! Try to catch frog, pond, Or there’s no haiku Frog pissed as Newton’s Original gravity Falls in with a splash Will the frog jump? Bet! While, all the while, dragonflies Flutter on the pools The Leapfrog contest A resounding success says Our correspondent The first spring crocus Blooms by the old pond. Then frogs —The first spring croakers Zen monks sit round pond Make bets on the next frog sound No cash? Owe Basho Basho had his frog And Newton had his apple —Behold gravity! Monks writing haiku When ten Zen men pen then yen! (Basho keeps profits) We behold the frog —Shotgun pellet right through him ‘He be holed, the frog’ Once upon a time Frog dives too deep, too quickly Suddenly ear ache Once upon a time Frog leaps into the water Once a pond, a time The frog senryu ends Variations continue The pond is silent
IV Cultural Variations
	If Shakespeare had heard it first All the pond’s a stage The frogs are merely players— Sound from the water On listening to the ‘naïve simplicity combined with heart-rending passion’ of a Janacek piano piece From overgrown path A frog leaps forlorn, soundless— Once there was a pond
V A Triku Haiku Tale One of the Basho Street Kids (Terimati’s Great Disciples) ‘explored bashofrogging trikully’, introducing the idea of narrative into one of the Great Master’s innovations, the triku (see "Beyond the Haiku").
	Frog sitting quietly Basho approaching noisily Basho scaring Frog Frog leaping suddenly Frog splashing loudly Frog inspiring Basho Basho creating haiku Haiku inspiring disciples Disciples emulating Basho Disciples creating variations Variations comparing poorly Variations multiplying daily Haiku frustrating disciples Disciples aping Basho Disciples frustrating Basho Disciples alienating Basho Basho leaving disciples Basho seeking solace Basho finding pond Basho approaching silently Frog sitting quietly

This is nothing but
A little froggy picture
To round off the page.