re:Virals 521

Welcome to re:Virals, The Haiku Foundation’s weekly commentary feature on some of your favorites among the best contemporary haiku and senryu written in English. In the host chair today is Melissa. This week’s poem, chosen by Violet Avery Hall was:

   
Ides of March
the absentee father
calls to talk
— Yvette Nicole Kolodji
  The Heron's Nest, Volume XXIII, Number 1: March 

Introducing this poem, Violet Avery Hall writes:

This haiku first resonated with me because I also have an absentee father. “Beware the Ides of March” is a warning from Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar, and the juxtaposition of this warning with the absentee father calling to talk makes for an ominous and heavy interpretation. As “Ides of March” is line one, it sets the tone for the rest of the poem. As the poem is completed with the phrase in lines two and three, it becomes clear that the speaker is, at the very least, uncomfortable with their father calling, even if it is just to talk. This haiku is the perfect example of “show, don’t tell” as the poet relies on the juxtaposed warning to imply the emotions of fear, discomfort, caution, hesitation, etc. without directly stating them.

Opening comment (Melissa):

The Ides of March is an interesting first line since it is unusual and dramatic, loaded with emotion and meaning. It is also well known, caught up as it is with the assassination of the Roman emperor and dictator Julius Caesar who ruled from 49 BCE to 44 BCE. Initially ‘the Ides’ referred to the middle of the month, since that corresponded with the arrival of the full moon. Thus the context and meaning in ancient Rome differed from ours. For the Romans this was a religious occasion, where sheep were sacrificed to the god Jupiter. This period was also associated with the Feast of Anna Perenna, the goddess of the year. However, in our modern times the meaning has evolved and so when we hear ‘The Ides of March’ we immediately think of misfortune and doom. We have William Shakespeare to thank for this, with his play Julius Caesar where a soothsayer warns “Beware the Ides of March” and this has stuck. When reading Yvette’s haiku I too think of this, and this evokes powerful feelings. However, on a second reading I am not so sure, could it be that this is dark humour? A way of making light of what is an anxiety inducing and difficult emotional encounter?.

I also wonder how the poet might feel about this absentee father? Do they want them to call? Are they wanting to build bridges? Why is the father absent? Was this his choice? There are so many questions that this haiku engenders as I read. Does it do this for you too?

Family breakdown is a difficult topic, and sadly not unusual in modern societies. Single parenthood and blended families are increasingly commonplace. Life can be messy, it never goes to plan or works out as we hoped or imagined. There is much spoken of about family values in the world today, and there can be a tendency to judge. There is also much more voiced about motherhood and the role of women in society, with arguments over the impact of feminism, working mothers versus the ‘trad wife’. Women seem to have a much harder time in such public discourse. We don’t hear as much about the role played by men here, how we define fatherhood in contemporary societies, and this is what is different about this haiku, as the spotlight is firmly turned onto the absent father. One of the conspirators of the plot to kill Julius Caesar was his close and trusted friend Brutus. Whilst this is not as close as a familial relationship I can imagine how a child who has been let down by a parent might fantasize about harm befalling them. This is all too human isn’t it?

Finally, this haiku is also quite powerful in that we see this situation from the child’s perspective, we read their pain and so we empathise. That to me is what makes this a great haiku, in that we see the humanity and this creates new understandings.

Sean Murphy:

“Ides of March” is such an ominous way to begin a poem. Before we know anything about the situation, we know that it is doomed to end badly, as surely as the arc of a tragedy ends in ruin. The question we are left with, as the poem continues, is whether the call’s recipient is identified with the reader — seeing clearly the doom that awaits them but powerless to stop it — or with Caesar, believing in their hubris that they can subvert fate, dismissing every warning and entreaty not to go to the forum today, not to pick up the phone. Or perhaps the father is Caesar, vain and proud and cruel, and thus the child Brutus, unsure if they should — if they can — betray this man whom they hold dear, even knowing the harm he will do if they don’t. Just as the characters in a tragedy cannot see their own roles, we are left unsure as to what shape the doom will take; we only know that at the end lies ruin.

Sudha Devi Nayak:

Ides of March, the fifteenth day of March portends to imminent doom and misfortune, gaining significance with the assassination of the great Roman emperor and further popularised by Shakespeare’s celebrated play Julius Caesar.

There is an inherent sadness in the haiku where the absentee father feels the need to talk to his child after a long time. The child gets an unexpected call from a father who is away on the war front or other exigencies of work. It lends itself to dual interpretation -the call indicates the father is alive and well and has sidestepped the calamitous prophecies associated with the day. Or some intuition could have prompted him to talk to his child, some foreboding or foreknowledge that everything may not go right with him and he feels the urgency to talk, the proverbial “coming events cast their shadows.” There is no decipherable pattern to life. Catastrophe can be random and unpredictable, everyday we hear of drastic things happening out of the blue. However the protagonist of the haiku is the child who must be thrilled and ecstatic after hearing his father’s voice across telephone wires. And no happiness can be as complete as that of a child. Unaware of the Ides of March or its implications or prophecies his happiness is profound.

The haiku brings me painful memories of migrants in India travelling from place to place in search of livelihoods leaving their families in their villages who wait anxiously for a phone call or a word about them. During the deadly pandemic many trekked their way home long distances escaping exploitative employers and dire circumstances .However humble a happy homecoming.

Petru Viljoen:

Warning bells are ringing loudly referencing Ides of March, when Ceazer was assassinated. One imagines an abusive relationship with the long absentee father. Prior to his leaving? Ides refers to the approximate middle of the month in which I read it is not money for rent he’s going to ask for. Perhaps he is thinking of resuming the relationship? One wonders if he was allowed an audience.

Dan Campbell—”Regrets, I’ve had a few…”:

RESPONSE BY THE ABSENTEE FATHER

It’s the Ides of March today. That’s what the calendar says. Wind’s cold, real sharp. Got that feelin’ like the sky knows somethin’ you don’t. I been sittin’ on this bench with my old banjo, watchin’ folks pass by, thinkin’ ‘bout my boy. Ain’t seen him in—Lord, I couldn’t even tell you how long. Too long. Long enough for him to grow up without me.

Back when he was little, I was gone more than I was around. Chasin’ music, runnin’ from myself. Playin’ gigs for gas money and pride, sleepin’ in truck beds, drinkin’ too much. Told myself I’d come back with stories. Told myself I was doin’ it for him. But the truth is, I was scared. I didn’t know how to be someone’s daddy. Still don’t.

Today I held the phone in my hand for near an hour before I hit dial. My fingers was shakin’, and that ain’t just from the arthritis. “Hey son,” I said, “it’s me.” Just like that. No speeches. No excuses. My voice cracked halfway through, like the string I broke on the third fret this mornin’. I ain’t callin’ to fix it all. I ain’t askin’ to be let back in. I just wanted him to know I’m still here. That I think about him. That I’m sorry—for all of it.

Author Yvette Nicole Kolodji:

I am extremely honored that Violet Avery Hill chose my poem for Re:Virals and I am looking forward to seeing all your commentary. This poem is written about my relationship with my father. My mom and dad divorced when I was 3-years old and my father was not present in my life. On the very rare occasions when we had interactions, they were always fraught. Thus, I started the poem with ‘Ides of March’ to create an ominous feeling and paired it with ‘the absentee father/calls to talk’ to create the context for it. With this combination, I try to evoke a feeling of wariness. That deep-seated pit of a feeling before an interaction where you anticipate that it will be utterly unpleasant and answer anyways. I try to emphasize the estranged nature of the relationship with the qualifier ‘absentee’ as well as the article ‘the.’ I don’t claim him as my father with a ‘my.’ This creates more distance and allows the reader to see themselves in the relationship or an observer of it. I also try to evoke the question ‘Why is he calling now?’ It could be his attempt to reconnect after so many years. But, with ‘Ides of March,’ it signals that this rekindling of a relationship does not occur even if attempted. I leave it up to the reader to input why it doesn’t succeed. Or, he could be calling to tell you something tragic. Because of the distance, there is no other reason for him to call. Thus, the ‘Ides of March’ can allude to a tragedy with the family or a health problem. I leave it up to the reader to decide why the father calls. But, for me, it is always him trying to reconnect with the hurt left unresolved and after too many years have past.

Thanks to all who sent commentaries. As the contributor of the commentary reckoned best this week, Dan Campbell has chosen next week’s poem, which you’ll find below. We invite you to write a commentary to it. It may be short, or of moderate length, academic, your personal response, spontaneous, or idiosyncratic.  As long as it focuses on the verse presented, and with respect for the poet, all genuine reader reaction, criticism, and pertinent discussion is of value.   Out-takes are kept in the THF Archives.  Best of all, the chosen commentary’s author gets to pick the next poem.

Anyone can participate. Simply use the re:Virals commentary form below to enter your commentary on the new week’s poem (“Your text”) by the following Tuesday midnight, Eastern US Time Zone, and then press Submit to send your entry. The Submit button will not be available until Name, Email, and Place of Residence fields are filled in. We look forward to seeing your commentary and finding out about your favourite poems.

Poem for commentary:

     
Dad’s harmonica
blues in the key
of dust
— Edward Cody Huddleston, USA
  Prune Juice, July 2025

Footnote:

Yvette Nicole Kolodji is a poet and artist from Whittier. She is the moderator for the Southern California Haiku Study Group and the membership secretary for the Haiku Poets of Northern California. Her poetry has been published in many haiku journals and it can be found in the most recent Two Autumns chapbook, Water Between Mountain Stones. Her poetry has been recognized as a winner of the 2025 Riverside Insect Fair Poem Contest and 2023 Santa Clarita Sidewalk Poetry Contest; runner-up for the 2025, 2022 and 2021 Golden Triangle Contests; received honorable mentions in the 2022 Haiku Society of America Rengay Award and the 2021 Haiku Poets of Northern California Rengay Contest; and short listed in 2014 for The Haiku Foundation’s Touchstone Award. She was a judge for the 2025 Poetry Out Loud Competition for Placer County and the 2024 Haiku Poets of Northern California Rengay Contest. Yvette was guest editor for The Haiku Foundation’s Haiku of the Day blog for June 2023. In 2025, she advocated for the arts in Los Angeles as an Activate Delegate for Arts for LA. She also enjoys leading haiku workshops.  Here’s Yvette’s Instagram page.

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An earlier “Ides of March” verse this year was considered in re:Virals 506.

re:Virals is co-hosted by Shawn Blair, Melissa Dennison, Susan Yavaniski, and Keith Evetts (managing editor).

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