The Stafford Challenge: Month 4 Doubutsu (動物) and Mono no Aware (物の哀れ); Animals and the Temporariness of Things
Credit to user anu-nand from Reddit for the photo.
I've been reading a lot of Kobayashi Issa and Kobayashi Issa insight recently. I recommend David G. Lanoue translation and insight of Kobayashi Issa's work as it has great readings, analysis, and examples withing the work. I keep thinking of his book Write like Issa: A Haiku How-To where Lanoue writes:
Issa's concern for small, weak, alone, and oppressed creatures began with a genuine and sincere effort to imagine the world as experienced by them. He then affirmed his connection with fellow beings acknowledging a shared reality in which he was not living on a higher plane looking down on them but, instead, was on their level, commiserating with them.
If you look through some of Kobayashi's varied work (I recommend https://haikuguy.com/issa/) you'll see the subject matter of Issa's haiku has animals like frogs and flies, mosquitos and crickets.
So I wanted to write about animals. In Japanese, it's doubutsu for a month. On top of that, I was thinking about the literary technique of mono no aware, the temporariness of things. An acknowledgement of beauty at the moment, and knowing that moment has to pass.
Below is the list of animals I wrote about:
- Coatimundi
- Marsh Mosquito
- Capybara
- Jack Russel Terrier
- Snake
- Mutt
- Canadian Geese
- Mutt (2)
- Goslings
- Ravens
- Isopods
- Dragonfly
- Mosquito Larva
- Ladybug
- Aphids
- Butterfly
- Moth
- Gnat
- Ant Lion
- Cabbage White Butterfly
- Centipede
- Panda
- Bee
- Spider
- Silverfish
- Cricket
- Stray Cat
- Fruit Fly
- Ants
- Pincher Bug
- Crane
- Frog
Here's an example of one of them:
The Cabbage White Butterfly
I’m terrified -- tasting sweetness
as the more I move my wings
I shatter them against this strip
of glue, and I’m tired. I can only stare in this
stillness compounded
compounded
compounded
compounded
My continuous flutters.
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