By way of an Oregon trip report

[larryhammer]

The going was excused by Sirens -- which was fun and full of thinky and some wonderful remeets (waves to rachelmanija, kateelliott, chibicharibdys, starlady38, swan_tower, artemisgrey, jennifergale, rhinemouse, metteharrison) and defictionalizations (waves to thistleingrey, rilina, esotera). But really, the traveling was all about the Oregon coast.* Three slow days of winding US-101 and dune hikes and empty gray beaches was not enough. I did journal, but the daily haikus are more likely to convey something of the scene, however haltingly.


under the maples
a single seed whirling down --
children trudge to school

—Portland, 6 Oct

a tattered cover
flutters in the restless breeze:
reading in the park

—Portland, 7 Oct
and no, that's not a good haiku

footprints in the sand --
off in the moss-covered pines
a bird croaks once, twice

—Reedsport, 8 Oct

shiranami wa
hisoi hiroi hama e
kuru ya kuru

—Reedsport, 9 Oct**

on the empty beach,
sounds of continual surf
a plover piping

—Reedsport, 9 Oct

one wave
rides piggyback
on another

—Depoe Bay, 9 Oct

gray fog fades inland
suddenly
a sparkling bay

—Netarts, 10 Oct

until the next wave
Arcturus is reflected
in receding water

—Seaside, 10 Oct

a long white spray
rumumumbles on black rocks --
below, train whistle

—Columbia Gorge, 11 Oct

gray veils the river --
a drop of water runs off
a pale maple leaf

—Skemania, 12 Oct

green grass and green moss
and green-on-green Douglas firs --
*clink* of a golf ball

—Skemania, 13 Oct

pale faces in the lobby --
black crows on a wet green lawn

—Skemania, 14 Oct
idea stolen from starlady38

brown leaves plastered flat
on the wet concrete sidewalk --
cars shush in the street

—Portland, 14 Oct
no, this one isn't good either

* Okay, okay, and the pilgrimage to Powell's. NB: It turns out they can ship your purchases with a single price for 10–1000 books.

** Not only am I not sure whether the final line achieves the effect I'm going for, I don't know how to translate it -- which is an odd feeling to be sure. A rough rendition might be white waves / to the broad beach / coming, coming. Maybe.

---L.

Comments

[puddleshark.livejournal.com]

Fabulous. A thousand times better than pictures.

[larryhammer]

Aw, thankee.

---L.

[rachelmanija.livejournal.com]

[Waves.]

I love your haiku album.

[larryhammer]

*waves again*

An experiment. Also, I didn't have brain for more. Not that I always had brain for this.

---L.

beautiful <3

[asakiyume.livejournal.com]

I especially love
one wave
rides piggyback
on another

and

brown leaves plastered flat
on the wet concrete sidewalk --
cars shush in the street

Re: beautiful <3

[larryhammer]

*g*

[(Anonymous)]

I love "rumumumbles"! I also like how your Classical training means that you just have to include a colon or a dash to separate the two thoughts -- all lower case, this one can live with, but leaving out the non-final punctuation is just beyond the pale. (I feel quite the same.)

Not to be a nitpicker, but is "hisoi hama e" a typo or some avant-garde technique? --Matt

[larryhammer]

*g* about the punctuation. An initial capital letter, though, usually gets added in revision.

But hisoi is of course a tyop for hiroi (広い) -- a headdeskingly stupid one. What I get for traveling without a jiten.

---L.

[esotaria.livejournal.com]

You made a beautiful origami dog for this formerly-fictionalized person at one of the previous Sirens. :P It was great seeing you again!

[larryhammer]

I maintain that you were still fictional, despite having recognized you from two years ago, as I don't think I'd connected you to your handle. But then, since I don't remember the dog, I may not be a reliable narrator of my story. :P

It was, indeed, good seeing you again, even if we didn't get to talk much.

---L.

[esotaria.livejournal.com]

This seems fair.

Next year! By then I'll hopefully read your new book. Also, you really should do a presentation about There's a Monster at the End of the Book, since Monsters is making a comeback.

[larryhammer]

We're working on a proposal for just that -- there's a couple of us who want to do it.

---L.

[galeni.livejournal.com]

I like those, especially "until the next wave"

[larryhammer]

That's my favorite of the lot, as well.

---L.

[starlady38.livejournal.com]

If you're only going to have one poet handy, Pound is a pretty good choice (http://starlady.dreamwidth.org/294423.html).

These haiku are great. I think the Japanese one works - I'd have to pull Knut my particle cheat sheet, but it makes sense to me without translating it.

It was great to see you!

Pound or Williams, either works

[larryhammer]

It was indeed great to see each other again. We'll see if we make it to next year's.

Coo, on the Japanese. (In case it's not obvious, here shiranami is written 白浪 not 白波.) (And in checking my spelling, I discover the existence of 白浪物, heh.)

---L.

[swan-tower.livejournal.com]

「ひそい」っては「ひろい」だろう？

I can't find "hisoi" in my dictionary, anyway.

[swan-tower.livejournal.com]

Aaaaand now I find somebody else already brought that up. This is what I get for opening the tab, and then not reading it until hours later!

[larryhammer]

そうだな

[sovay]

but the daily haikus are more likely to convey something of the scene, however haltingly.

These are lovely.

[larryhammer]

Thankee.

---L.

[v-mures.livejournal.com]

Oh these are absolutely lovely! If I am ever back in the Portland area I shall have to make a pilgrimage to Powell's. Until then I shall have to be happy with ordering from their online store. :D

[larryhammer]

The Mothership store is indeed a pilgrimage site. Allow at least a day (and make sure your base party knows when to send out Search & Rescue).

---L.

[mechaieh.livejournal.com]

the very green ku (Oct. 13) made me smile -- something about the tiny little plink of the golf ball within all that green. :-)

[larryhammer]

It was a startling sound -- hiking through the dripping forest along the golf course, and suddenly *plink* echoing through the trees. Followed, of course, by the whir of a cart, and its splashing through puddles, but there wasn't room for that.

---L.

[spiralsheep.livejournal.com]

I like the first verse/poem best as a whole, but "shush" is my favourite word out of the vocabulary. :-)

[larryhammer]

It's good onomatopoeia. (Which is not a word I should attempt to spell before coffee...)

---L.