These are a few of my translations of the experimental, free-form haiku of Santoka (1882–1940). Santoka practiced “Walking Zen” and traveled Kyushu, Honshu, and Shikoku on foot as an itinerant monk begging enough money for a cup of sake and a bowl of rice a day. Santoka’s father was a womanizer and a spend-thrift and his mother killed herself on account of this. His memory of her body being pulled from the well in which she drowned herself haunted him all of his life.

*

This
journey

without
goal–

weeping
locust.

*

Between life
death/snow

still falling.

*

Road
no end
loneliness.

*

On my straw
hat

dragonfly clings–

keep walking.

*

In this
blizzard

try to
sleep,

not die.

*

Rain
falling on

home
country–

walk barefoot/here.

*

Push
apart

step
thru

push
apart

step
thru

blue-green
mountain.

*

These
my hands

these
my feet

warm inside–
sleep.

*

All night
long

dogs bark,
I walk.

The difficulty in finding an English equivalent to Santoka’s highly compressed haiku is almost impossible. For instance, the famous “Push apart/step thru” haiku above has a sonic element that is apparent to any native speaker of Japanese. My students were kind enough to point it out to me one day during discussion. There is the feeling of a work song to the poem, which barely comes through in English.

I’ve been reading a wonderful introduction to Oral Poetry written by John Miles Foley. Written in a non-stuffy, unacademic manner, it is yet one of the most informative ventures into this topic, while remaining free of most of the jargon of Derrida, Blanchot and company. In addition, we are taken beyond the usual round of Homer, Lonnrot and anonymous Praise and Throat Singers and given a front seat at the Nuyorican Cafe for an ear-full of slam orality, which will definitely bring Professor Foley’s lessons home to students attuned to Rap and Ten Mile. There was one name missing, however, from this great book and I recently queried Professor Foley regarding this:

Dear Professor Foley,

I’m presently reading your wonderful introduction to oral poetry and am really finding it useful, but I’m a bit perplexed at the omission of Jerome Rothemberg or any consideration of his work from its pages. You cite Dennis Tedlock, and speak of Ethnopoetics, but do not give Mr. Rothemberg his due. Rothemberg is actually cited in many of the publications in your bibliography, including Paul Zumthor’s great text, which I’ve just finished. Any light you may shed on this matter would be greatly appreciated. Jesse Glass

Here is Professor Foley’s generous response:

Dear Mr. Glass,

Thanks for your note. I hope the book is useful.

There are many people and movements I could have covered, or covered more fully, in that book. And, indeed, I tried within limits to be as expansive as possible for the sake of encouraging a diversity of approach — very different from other books on oral poetry and, I think, very much needed if we are to avoid the trap of exclusivity. My focus on Dennis Tedlock’s work resulted from his attention to specifically theoretical matters, much like Dell Hymes’ work but of course from a different perspective and with different assumptions. Similarly, while I could have expanded the discussion of performance theory well beyond the work of Richard Bauman, I chose, in order to keep things as simple and direct as possible, to focus chiefly on his contribution.

Like many people, I have great respect for Jerome Rothenberg’s work, and have enjoyed his remarks and presentations at the People’s Poetry Gathering and during last year’s meeting of the Endangered Oral Traditions group, to which we both belong.

Best wishes,
John Foley

Professor Foley is also the director of the University of Missouri’s Center for Studies in Oral Tradition and the editor of its journal, which I’ll be subscribing to soon.