{"id":7297,"date":"2006-12-29T18:23:01","date_gmt":"2006-12-29T23:23:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.law.harvard.edu\/ethicalesq\/2006\/12\/29\/lawyers-appreciate-good-haiku\/"},"modified":"2011-08-05T14:53:53","modified_gmt":"2011-08-05T18:53:53","slug":"lawyers-appreciate-good-haiku","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/ethicalesq\/2006\/12\/29\/lawyers-appreciate-good-haiku\/","title":{"rendered":"lawyers appreciate good haiku"},"content":{"rendered":"

Our often tardy and absent\u00a0Editor tagged his f\/k\/a<\/em> alter egos this afternoon with an invitation to the Lawyers Appreciate Countdown<\/strong><\/a> — a ten-day event, in which lawyer webloggers have been closing out 2006 by discussing “what lawyers appreciate”\u00a0(find links\u00a0here<\/font><\/a>).\u00a0\u00a0 Mr. Editor posted at the shlep<\/a><\/em> self-help-law weblog today, neglecting loyal f\/k\/a<\/em> readers and colleagues (as he’s been doing since the summer).\u00a0\u00a0 You can find his resulting\u00a0shlep<\/em> contribution to the Countdown in the posting “lawyers appreciate pro-se-friendly courts<\/a>” (Dec. 29, 2006).<\/p>\n

\"yinyang\"\u00a0Because we have only until December 31st to fulfill our Appreciation obligation, Prof. Yabut<\/a> and dagosan<\/a><\/em> have decided\u00a0to plagiarize\/reprise a posting by Mr. Editor from December 2003.\u00a0 In Yes, lawyers and haiku<\/a>, he explained, from\u00a0his perspective\u00a0as a retired\u00a0lawyer-mediator,\u00a0why<\/p>\n

Lawyers [Should] Appreciate Good Haiku<\/em>:<\/p>\n

I wish I had found haiku when I was a busy, driven lawyer-mediator.\u00a0 Like many other attorneys, I rarely found time between career, family and civic activities, to enjoy art or literature, and couldn\u2019t even conceive of creating anything artistic.\u00a0\u00a0 But, haiku is perfect for the hectic professional, or any other overwhelmed member of our hyperactive society.\u00a0\u00a0 And, it is especially perfect for the busy lawyer:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. brevity<\/strong> removes the not-enough-time excuse — open a good haiku book or web page and in a few moments you can have a worthwhile artistic experience (insight, joy, humor, serenity, etc.);<\/li>\n
  2. lawyers love words<\/strong> \u2014 especially words that have layers of meaning, connotation, and denotation, where distilling an image to its essence is crucial, but a little misdirection is allowed (and even encouraged);<\/li>\n
  3. and rules<\/strong>: not only are there lots of rules, but they are in dispute, constantly evolving, often misapplied, and frequently defended or attacked beyond all reason.
    \ncreation: lawyers often feel (and are often told) that they don\u2019t make or create anything (besides controversy and money).\u00a0 The haiku concept is complex enough to be a challenge but manageable enough to be mastered by anyone who gives it a little quality time.\u00a0 Every lawyer may not have a great novel inside her or him, but every lawyer can create some very passable haiku, and maybe even some great haiku.<\/li>\n
  4. balance<\/strong>: haiku can help lawyers achieve the balanced lifestyle prescribed by Professor Patrick J. Schiltz, in his landmark article , On Being a Happy, Healthy, and Ethical Member of an Unhappy, Unhealthy, and Unethical Profession<\/em>, 52 Vand. L. Rev. 871, which we discussed at length\u00a0here<\/a> last September.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    \"gullsS\"\u00a0I hope you\u2019ll catch haiku fever from this weblog and the resources mentioned here.\u00a0 Since most Americans are mistaken about the \u201crules\u201d of English-language haiku, please take a look at \u201cis it or ain\u2019t it haiku?<\/a>\u201d to learn more about the haiku genre, and its cousin \u201csenryu\u201c, which focuses (often with humor or irony) on human nature. [Senryu can be particularly enjoyable for lawyers and other city folk \u2014 who are frequently far more attuned to human foibles than to the human connection to nature\u2019s essence.]\u00a0 Browse this site, and our Guest Poet Archive<\/a>, for examples of fine modern, English-language haiku, and related genre.<\/p>\n

    Quick (draft) Definition of Haiku<\/em>:\u00a0 Haiku is an unrhymed \u201cone-breath\u201d poem (no more than 17 syllables) that relates nature to human nature, and usually compares or contrasts a pair of images, which are separated by a pause.\u00a0 At its best, haiku lets the reader share in the poet\u2019s \u201chaiku moment\u201d — a moment of insight or awe.<\/p>\n

    Quick (draft) Definition of Senryu<\/em>:\u00a0 Senryu is a short poem similar in structure to haiku but featuring ironic, humorous and\/or coarse observations on human nature.<\/p>\n

    [Yabut Note<\/em>:\u00a0 As we proved recently<\/a>, Lawyers Appreciate Humorous Pseudo-Haiku, too, with genre definitions violated openly, notoriously, and in the spirit of fun and misadventure.]<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

    \"gullsSF\"\u00a0Haiku Appreciates Lawyers<\/em>:\u00a0\u00a0Our favorite haiku-writing lawyer is Roberta Beary<\/strong><\/a>, who lives and practices law in the D.C. Metro area.\u00a0 The haiku world definitely appreciates her work, as she has consistently won contests and acclaim in the past decade. Here are some of Roberta’s best (you can find more using the links found in our Roberta Beary Archive<\/a>); the first poem is not necessarily about lawyers:<\/p>\n

    early spring walk
    \nyour hand
    \nin my pocket<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

    \u00a0<\/p>\n

    \u00a0<\/p>\n

    first snow \"snowflake\"
    \nat every window
    \na child’s face<\/p>\n

    \u00a0<\/p>\n

    far from home
    \nan empty swing
    \nhalf my size<\/p>\n

    \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

    not hearing it
    \ntil the cat stirs
    \nbirdsong<\/p>\n

    custody hearing
    \nseeing his arms cross
    \ni uncross mine<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

    \"yinyang\"
    \nfamily picnic
    \nthe new wife’s rump
    \nbigger than mine<\/p>\n

    snowed in
    \nthe dog clicks
    \nfrom room to room<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

    \u00a0<\/p>\n

    ice patch
    \nthe surprising strength
    \nof mother\u2019s grip<\/p>\n

    \u00a0<\/p>\n

    . . . by Roberta Beary<\/a>\u00a0 \"BearyRoberta\"<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

    Credits:\u00a0<\/p>\n

    “far from home”: Published in Frogpond<\/em> XIX:3 (1996) (for Anita Virgil)\u00a0
    \n“not hearing it”: Honorable Mention, National League American Pen Women Palomar Branch, Vol. 8 (1997)
    \n“first snow”: Published in Haiku Happens<\/em> (1998)
    \n“early spring walk”: Included in “A Kind Neighbor<\/em>,” Haiku Society of America Members’ Anthology (1997);\u00a0and in Snow on the Water<\/em>: The Red Moon Anthology of English-Language Haiku (1998)
    \n“custody hearing” – from pocket change<\/em> & A New Resonance 2<\/em>\u00a0
    \n“family picnic” – favorite senryu award, modern haiku 34-3
    \n“snowed in” – winner, Snapshots<\/em> Press 2006 Haiku Calendar (February);\u00a0“ice patch” – The Heron’s Nest<\/em> VIII:4 (Dec. 2006)<\/p>\n

    \"snowflake\"\u00a0By the way, all that attention to shlep: the Self-Help Law ExPress<\/a><\/em> by our Editor has\u00a0won<\/a> that weblog the title “Best Law Blog in the Public Interest”<\/em>\u00a0from the\u00a0Blawg Review Awards 2006<\/a>.\u00a0 We (his many alter egos)\u00a0expect him to remain as humble as ever, and hope he starts attending to f\/k\/a<\/em> again.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

    \u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Our often tardy and absent\u00a0Editor tagged his f\/k\/a alter egos this afternoon with an invitation to the Lawyers Appreciate Countdown — a ten-day event, in which lawyer webloggers have been closing out 2006 by discussing “what lawyers appreciate”\u00a0(find links\u00a0here).\u00a0\u00a0 Mr. Editor posted at the shlep self-help-law weblog today, neglecting loyal f\/k\/a readers and colleagues (as […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":94,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[555,900],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7297","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-haiku-or-senryu","category-viewpoint"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p6kP1R-1TH","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/ethicalesq\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7297","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/ethicalesq\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/ethicalesq\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/ethicalesq\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/94"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/ethicalesq\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7297"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/ethicalesq\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7297\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12604,"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/ethicalesq\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7297\/revisions\/12604"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/ethicalesq\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7297"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/ethicalesq\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7297"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/ethicalesq\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7297"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}