Haiku For Parkinson’s: Haiku for the Heart—Bruce H. Feingold
Haiku for Parkinson’s is a feature of The Haiku Foundation (THF): introducing haiku to those of us living with Parkinson’s Disease (PD), as well as introducing PD to those ‘living with haiku.’ You will find previous posts from this series here
Thus far in Haiku for Parkinson’s, we have concentrated on the benefits of haiku for those living with Parkinson’s Disease. However, the question arises whether haiku helps mitigate symptoms of Parkinson’s Disease only, or whether it may be helpful with other conditions as well. In today’s contribution, Bruce H. Feingold highlights the healing properties of haiku for the heart.
Bruce H. Feingold writes:
When I turned 65, I trekked with my son on the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu and hiked with my wife in the Colorado Rockies in the fall. I felt in tip-top shape.
highest I’ll ever be the sky unfolds into clouds and peaks
~Bruce H. Feingold
Months later I was puzzled by a flurry of symptoms: shortness of breath, dizziness, and heart palpitations which would hit suddenly and then disappear. When a life-threatening arrhythmia struck, I was one of the lucky ones, due to the support of my wife and a wise doctor, I checked into the emergency room where I survived a sudden death cardiac arrest, called ventricular tachycardia.
Over four years I wrote a series of haiku culminating in the collection arrhythmia (Red Moon Press, 2020), a therapeutic way for me to deal with the highs and lows of illness, grief and healing. Many have noted the parallels between psychotherapy and haiku: self-expression, naming an experience in order to better understand it, humor, social connection, and awareness that we are part of something larger than ourselves––all leading to feelings of unity and wholeness.
Heart disease has been the leading cause of death for over a hundred years in the United States. In 2019 it was the number one killer in the world with nearly 18 million people succumbing to cardiovascular disease (1). Since the beginning of civilization, heart disease has plagued human beings. Evidence of heart maladies has been found in Egyptian mummies from 3500 years ago (2).
Heart haiku also have a long history.
Even when the heart
is slowly dying
the flowers still bloom
~Issa
Increased depression and anxiety are common responses to the sudden onset of heart disease (2). Hence, expressing and describing vulnerability is a crucial first step to dealing with shock, denial and sadness.
sudden death
an angel cradles my heart
with its wings
~Bruce H. Feingold
Many think of heart disease as synonymous with blocked arteries, but another form of heart illness is the failure of the electrical system or arrhythmia. Atrial fibrillation is the most common type, which, if untreated, can cause strokes. Many poets have used humor to cope with irregular heartbeats, showing a deft use of karumi.
heart rate irregular
somehow it matches
my life
~Mike Rehling
three of us
watch my heart galloping
on a monitor
~William Hart
Ventricular arrhythmias are typically more deadly than atrial fibrillation because blood circulates through the right atrium and travels to the lungs where it’s oxygenated, but then stalls in the lower ventricle due to the electrical system backfiring, with heart rates topping out at over 250 beats per minutes. Blood and oxygen stop reaching the brain and within minutes, loss of consciousness and death may ensue.
Lee Gurga depicts the stark reality of cardiac arrest.
death the electrocardiogram’s horizon
~Lee Gurga
The Egyptians and Issa did not have access to the miracles of modern medicine, but many haiku poets describe life saving devices such as pacemakers with gratitude and oneness with the natural world.
pacemaker
in your chest
the autumn cricket
~Raymond Roseliep
a new mountain trail in my chest defibrillator
~Bruce H. Feingold
As I came to grips with illness and aging, the expression of grief was another important step towards mental health. Accepting the transitoriness of life and the inevitability and beauty of decay and change has deep roots in the influence of Zen on haiku. The haiku aesthetic of sabi plays a prominent role in many haiku about grief and illness.
fallen redwoods
the solitary walks
after illness
~Bruce H. Feingold
From Basho and his peers reading haiku together while walking around temple grounds to contemporary Zoom readings, social connection is a beneficial aspect of haiku and mental health. Many haiku (and senryu) explore the social world, and emotional support is a pillar of coping with heart disease.
angioplasty
my daughter-in-law texts
emoji hearts
~Bruce H. Feingold
holding hands
around the laden table —
bulge of a pacemaker
~Donna Gallagher
Recovering from heart disease is a psychological journey with many steps backward and forward. One needs to cope with the initial shock and trauma, ensuing anxiety and depression, and grieve feelings of loss. Through these stages, the emergence of hope is a potential source of emotional and mental well-being.
healing heart
a white-crowned sparrow sings
with all of his
~Chuck Brickley
(1) World Health Organization, Cardiovascular Disease, June 11, 2021
(2) The History of Heart Disease. Story, Colleen M., September 21, 2018
(3) CDC, Heart Disease, May 15, 2024
References
~ Brickley, Chuck, “healing heart”, hedgerow 139, 2022.
~ Feingold, Bruce H., “highest I’ll ever be”, Mariposa 40, 2019.
~ Feingold, Bruce H., “a new mountain trail”, tiny words, issue 19.2/January 20, 2019.
~ Feingold, Bruce H., “fallen redwoods”, Haiku Canada: 2018 Betty Drevniok Award first prize.
~ Feingold, Bruce H., “angioplasty”, AHA (Annual Hortensia Anderson) Memorial Awards (United Haiku and Tanka Society), 2017, 2nd Place.
~ Feingold, Bruce H., “sudden death”, arrhythmia (Red Moon Press, 2020).
~ Gallagher, Donna, “holding hands”, Modern Haiku 37:3 (Autumn 2006).
~ Gurga, Lee, “death”, Prune Juice 29 (November 2019).
~ Hart, William, “three of us”, Cloud Eats Mountain (Red Moon Press, 2013).
~Issa (1763-1828), “Even when the heart”, trans. Cohen, William Howard, To Walk in Seasons: An Introduction to Haiku (1972).
~Rehling, Mike, “heart rate irregular”, Haiku of Day, The Haiku Foundation, June 9, 2021.
~Roseliep, Raymond, “pacemaker”, Cicada 5:3 (1981).
I would like to thank Charlie Trumbull who shared his vast haiku database, Chuck Brickley for his editorial suggestions, and Stella Pierides for her inspiration to write about illness and haiku.
Biography
Bruce H. Feingold, Ph.D., has been a psychologist for nearly fifty years in the San Francisco Bay area. His haiku have been published world-wide and have won numerous awards. He is the author of five haiku collections, including everything with an asterisk (Red Moon Press, 2022), a HSA Merit Book award recipient, and arrhythmia (Red Moon Press, 2020). Bruce is on the Board of Directors of The Haiku Foundation, chairs The Touchstone Awards and is the Vice-President of the Haiku Poets of Northern California. Bruce’s haiku may be found on Instagram (haikubruce) and at haikubruce.com.
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Image credit: Maria Pierides (https://mariapierides.co.uk/)
Comments (4)
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Thank you Stella, I just added this column to my All Time Favorites list!
Having lived with Parkinson’s for some fifteen years as well as writing haiku, I’m delighted to read these haiku that eloquently deal with another condition, and glad to see the Haiku for Parkinson’s expanding this way.
foot drags again
engine sputtering
oops, forgot to tank up
ear to the pillow
the missing beats
also count
Haiku for the Heart by Bruce Feingold was an inspiring read—engaging from first breath to last. You made my heart flutter in a good way. Thank you.