Okay so, considering the format is not formal I do not intend my writing to be formal. Who cares anyways? These are the beats.... So I'm going to start this off by saying I don't like Brautigan much at all... but I'm still going to write about him because I found one poem that is simply adorable.
"
Haiku Ambulance
A piece of green pepper
fell
off the wooden salad bowl:
so what?
" (43)
So what? It's brilliant, it definitely needs an ambulance. If nobody was counting, that's 16 syllables up there - 1 short of a Haiku. It's like the important limb, the what (or the "Aha" moment as some people like to say), has been hacked off already so we don't even get to think about it. Then, all form and function is removed: the first line already breaks the haiku with an extra syllable that is all the more jarring coming from a single word, and then the poem steps firmly into the "long" second line with only one syllable.
After that there is a quasi-normal line (7 syllables) followed by a "so what?" So when this silly poem fell, what of it? It is certainly an odd one, but it makes me smile on the inside. With every rule being broken it's hard to focus on the pepper itself. Does the pepper even matter?
We all know it does not.
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2 comments:
This poem just drips of sass! It seems that he is questioning poetry itself. Why should people look into every little incident for a deeper meaning? Especially in writing. He's merely recording an event that he sees no meaning in. As I said in my own blog... that's why I like Brautigan. He doesn't feel like poetry should be taken so seriously.
-- Veronica
Ah yes, you're both pointing at what I think is classic Brautigan humor. The poem doesn't seem to be saying anything at first, but through its careful play with haiku form, plus the kicker "so what" - as you say, W - it's definitely got something to say about how presumptions of depth or meaning... Do you think this is reflective of the overall collection's tone? Or the tone of TFA?
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