Police
Blotter Haiku: A Review
I
am fascinated by popular haiku and how widespread it has become. From my perspective, as focused as I am on
the possibilities for syllabic verse in English, the widespread acceptance of a
poetic form that is defined by its syllable count is a very encouraging
sign. It means that the cultural ground
is being tilled for a broader acceptance of syllabic verse in English.
Some
of the best examples of this acceptance are to be found in humorous collections
of haiku in the 5-7-5 format. Many
people are aware of Haikus for Jews
and Redneck Haiku: The Double-Wide
Edition. These two have had a wide
appeal and are still in print.
Recently
I have come across another collection which, I think, deserves to be added to
its illustrious predecessors. It is
titled Police Blotter Haiku, by Jim
Jones. PBH has the same wry sense of humor as Haiku for Jews and Redneck Haiku;
the same kind of commentary on the foibles of human life and its difficulties.
A
tree collided
with
a drunken motorist.The tree was not hurt.
Jones
writes, “A couple of years ago I spent the weekend in a small town of no great
significance. Out of boredom I picked up
a copy of the local paper. And discovered
the Police Blotter column. The stories
were so short and pithy and human that they read like haiku. Before long, I began converting them into
actual haiku. This seemed appropriate.”
Aflame
with anger,
he
set fire to the carportof her new lover.
The
collection is divided into 17 topics like ‘Men, Women and Wretched Exes’, ‘Bad
Behavior’, ‘Much Outrage About Nothing’, etc.
Each section is roughly 6 to 10 pages long. Included are really great illustrations of
the suspect behavior, which add to the charm of the book.
Just
to pass the time
he
walked into traffic anddared cars to hit him.
Most
of the haiku are humorous, but now and then Jones observes some of the more
poignant tales from the Police Blotter:
In
her high-end home,
in
the finest neighborhood,she still died alone.
I
am impressed by the ability Jones shows to distill a short news item down to 17
syllables. That is not as easy as he
makes it look. Like RNH and HFJ, PBH explores areas of life normally not
touched on by haiku poets. Yet this is
also a part of life and these aspects of life are all around us and, I think,
are a rich source for haiku material if we will turn our attention to them.
Dew
catches the sun
and
floods the windshield with light.Two-car accident.
Stylistically,
the haiku in this collection are either single sentence haiku or in two parts;
kind of like a juxtaposition, but not so self-consciously artful. I don’t recall reading a list haiku. The seasonal element is, for the most part,
absent; I doubt that Jones considered it.
But there are a lot of non-seasonal haiku written these days even among
the denizens of official haiku.
Night
of the Taggers.
Come
the dawn, call after callabout defaced walls.
From
my perspective, popular haiku accomplishes two things. First, it broadens the subjects that are
acceptable for haiku poets. And second,
popular haiku affirms the possibility of a syllabic approach to English
language poetry slowly emerging.
Get
yourself a copy of Police Blotter Haiku. I think you will enjoy it as much as I did.
Parolee
Rule 1:
Put
down your meth pipe BEFOREanswering the door.
Police
Blotter Haiku
Jim
JonesISBN: 9781500471163
$12.95
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