HAIKU DIALOGUE – Intoxication – Alcohol – commentary

Intoxication with Guest Editor Deborah Karl-Brandt

It has been with us since time immemorial, and almost all of us have experienced it firsthand: intoxication. Endorphins produced in the body during exercise give us a feeling of happiness known as a “runner’s high,” and once again we are intoxicated. Intoxicants have been used to awaken our spirituality, make us forget physical hardships, or elevate our imagination to unprecedented heights. And yet intoxication has its dark side. In the coming weeks, we want to explore how legal intoxicants affect us, our brains, and our everyday lives. I invite you to join me on a journey into our everyday lives and our brains to explore intoxication.

Below is Deborah’s commentary for Alcohol:

handed down
from grandmother —
xaaj by the bonfire

(xaaj is the traditional fermented rice beer of Assam, India)

Rashmi Buragohain
India

There are usually two sides to every story. Alcohol has been a part of human life for so long that there is an overwhelming variety of traditional alcoholic beverages. Some drinks were even considered sacred (sake), and drinking itself often follows rituals. The knowledge of how to drink, in what context to drink, and how drinking is socially acceptable is often passed down from parents or grandparents to their children. But doesn’t this poem make you wonder whether it will be for the child’s good or harm when they take that very first sip? No one can say. Only the course of their life will reveal the answer.

sipping the same
drink all night long
how to fit in

Eavonka Ettinger
Long Beach, CA

This poem explores how pervasive drinking is in Western culture and the pressure that comes with it. The composition of the haiku is also noteworthy. The first and last lines together form a micro-story of their own, while the second line poignantly captures what is subtly expected when attending a social event: drinking ‘all night long.’ Even though it has been carefully crafted and written, the poem comes across as authentic and natural.

turning down
a drink — she offers
congratulations

Jenn Ryan-Jauregui
Tucson, Arizona USA

This poem seems lighthearted at first glance, but it harbors a hidden edge. What is particularly interesting here is the structure of the middle stanza. The lyrical speaker can hardly fail to notice the ever-present offer of alcohol. Whether the ‘congratulations’ are in order because a woman is expecting a child or because she has finally managed to win her battle against alcohol and get sober is left up to the reader to decide.

empty barstool row
one light over the counter
won’t turn off the past

Noriko Morishita
Tokyo, Japan

This subtle and beautiful poem does not feature any people at all. The objects alone, and the place where they are located, create a melancholic, contemplative atmosphere. A sense of loneliness permeates the haiku. The lessons to be drawn from this elegantly described scene are left entirely up to the reader. This haiku invites us to read between the lines and expresses the inexpressible. A truly masterful haiku.

four drinks in —
he knew his limits
two drinks ago

Sean Murphy
MD, USA

This poem has a subtle sense of humor. It is precisely through the repetition of certain words and the emotionally charged word ‘limits’ that the author creates a sense of tension that captivates the reader.

sip sip hooray
the jolly old fellow
he used to be

Tracy Davidson
Warwickshire, UK

The first two lines put us in a festive mood by alluding to one of the most famous English songs. This song is often sung at celebratory occasions, such as birthdays, where people tend to drink heavily. The poem, which begins cheerfully and lightly, takes a dark turn in the last line. The person being celebrated has already passed away, and the author suggests that alcohol may well have been one of the factors that shortened their life.

cloudy sunset
his everyday bottle
almost empty

Keiko Izawa
Japan

This poem puts me in a melancholic, sad mood right from the first line. Neither the poetic “I” nor the author is really evident in this work, which effectively captures the shift in perspective required by the haiku form. Elegantly structured and very subtly, it suggests that it is not just another bottle running low, but perhaps even a human life. Perhaps this, too, is being cut short by continued alcohol consumption. Here, too, an inanimate object takes on the role of making statements about a person’s life. A very touching poem.

the fly
drowning in it too
this rum and coke

Bryan Rickert
Belleville, Illinois

This haiku depicts an everyday scene that many of us have experienced in a similar way. Drawn by the sweetness of the drink, a fly loses its life. A certain heartlessness pervades the haiku. No one saves the fly, and even the owner of the drink can save neither the fly nor himself. Subtly constructed, it shows how not only is the drinker heading toward his own downfall, but alcohol consumption even becomes a danger to those around him. Even though it supposedly involves only a fly, the poem urges us to reflect on how excessive drinking affects not only the drinker but also his family and friends.

2am —
his whisky knocking
on the door

Lori Kiefer
UK

Seven words. That’s all it takes to write an effective poem. The minimalist, disciplined form of the senryu stands in contrast to its content. Here, a boundary is crossed, as alcohol consumption has apparently shut down rational thinking to such an extent that only emotional impulsiveness remains. A highly effective poem with great emotional impact.

first time tipsy
in front of the kids
nowhere to crawl

Margaret Anderson
Vancouver, BC

This haiku touches me deeply. This poem follows the traditional method of constructing senryu, and the result is a very effective poem. Naturally, it omits a kigo and reduces the distance between the reader and the poetic voice to a minimum in order to achieve maximum emotional involvement. The shame! And the feeling that a line has been crossed, forever and irrevocably changing something.

before / after
quitting
alcohol

Olivier Schopfer
Geneva, Switzerland

Alcohol takes us into a liminal zone. Our state of mind and emotions are affected by alcohol consumption. There is a ‘before’ and an ‘after,’ and we all have to grapple with how we and our network of relationships changes. This masterful, minimalist senryu reminds us of that.

Sake – The Drink of the Gods

Many of our haiku poets have focused on sake. The resulting haiku reflect a wide range of emotions and human experiences. I would like to present a small selection of these haiku here in a feature.

a cup of sake
and perhaps a poem?
Santōka’s way

Mark Meyer
Mercer Island WA USA

 

sakura sake
in our magic cups
kampai!

Kathabela Wilson
USA

 

warm sake…
moonlight spills
on tatami

Sherry Reniker
Washington, USA

 

the monk
drunk on the stars…
sake

Dorna Hainds
MI, USA

 

three cups of sake …
how bright the sakura
petals are

Milan Rajkumar
Imphal, India

 

the sake bottle
long past arousing
late night moon

Alan Harvey
Tacoma, WA

 

a single sip
then setting it down
sake

Roberta Beach Jacobson
Indianola, IA, US

 

lukewarm sake
today’s special
from the dumpster

Mike Fainzilber
Tel Aviv, Israel

 

winter blues —
I discover myself
in a glass of sake

Mona Bedi
Delhi, India

 

no secret
between us
warm sake

Cezar Ciobica Sr.
Romania

Join us next week for our next prompt…

Bios

Guest Editor Deborah Karl-Brandt lives in Sinzig, Germany, with her husband, two rabbits and numerous books. After her PhD studies in Scandinavian languages and literatures, she works as a freelance author and poet. Her poems have appeared in magazines like Prune Juice, Kingfisher, First Frost, Frogpond, Failed Haiku and Tsuridoro. If she is not outside for a long stroll or to do some birdwatching, she explores Chinese and Japanese novels.

Assistant Editor Lafcadio, a former teacher, now works from home writing, editing and proofreading study guides for nursing textbooks. She lives in Tennessee. She has written poetry for a long time but a couple of years ago fell in love with Japanese micropoetry and hasn’t looked back. Lafcadio has been published in a number of journals and anthologies. She writes under the nom de plume of Lafcadio because nom de plume is so fun to say. You can read her poems on Twitter (X) @lafcadiopoetry or BlueSky @lafcadiobsky.

Assistant Editor Vandana Parashar is an associate editor of haikuKATHA and one of the editors of Poetry Pea and #FemkuMag. Her debut e-chapbook, I Am, was published by Title IX Press (now Moth Orchid Press) in 2019 and her second chapbook Alone, I Am Not, was published by Velvet Dusk Publishing in April 2022.

Lori Zajkowski is the Post Manager for Haiku Dialogue. She lives in New York City and enjoys reading and writing haiku.

Managing Editor Katherine Munro lives in Whitehorse, Yukon Territory, and publishes under the name kjmunro. She served as Membership Secretary for Haiku Canada for ten years, and her debut poetry collection is contractions (Red Moon Press, 2019). Find her at: kjmunro1560.wordpress.com.

Portrait by Laurel Parry

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Banner Photo credit:  Andreas Brandt

Haiku Dialogue offers a triweekly prompt for practicing your haiku. Posts appear each Wednesday with a prompt or a selection of poems from a previous week.  Read past Haiku Dialogue posts here.