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Reader
Response Essay by Amy Twardowski
What first attracted
me to Cor Van Den Heuvel’s haiku were the several selections
I read about baseball. From this point forward, I have picked up
on liveliness in Cor’s haiku that I have not felt as strongly
with other authors. His haiku bring simple things - baseball games,
summer afternoons, newspapers, and nights out with friends, to life
and provide a significance to such objects and instances that one
may not have otherwise recognized. Van Den Heuvel’s haiku discuss
the simplicities of life; such is why his haiku are so great. He,
like Amann detailed in "The Wordless Poem" essay, finds
success in writing about "nothing special". Cor’s
haiku do not discuss death, God or similarly profound subjects;
he instead focuses upon events or subjects that pertain to everyday
life which all readers can relate to in one way or another. Cor’s
unique contribution to the haiku community is this focus upon simplicity,
but also his ability to bring such simplicity to life. His haiku
create vivid images and spark emotions in a way that not all authors
are able to accomplish.
My first attraction
to Cor Van Den Heuvel, as I detailed earlier, were his haiku on
baseball. While reading The Haiku Anthology, I was instantly drawn
to his baseball haiku because the sport was such an important part
of my life for so long. I love the sport and had played for many,
many years. These haiku bring the game of baseball to life whether
it is through the shoes of a player or a spectator. Liveliness emerges
from these haiku sparking fond memories and good feelings.
the batter
checks
the placement of his feet
"Strike One!"
This particular
haiku provides an excellent commentary on being up to bat in a baseball
game. Going up to bat can be very nerve-wracking and getting set
in the batter’s box is important to being successful. Nervousness
sometimes causes that getting set to take priority over the more
important task of hitting the ball. This haiku provided a very vivid
image of a batter staring at his feet; the reader could clearly
envision the ball bypassing the batter. I almost groaned with disappointment
by the last line of the haiku; the moment came to life for me. This
haiku brings the reader in and forces them to feel exactly what
it would be like to be in such a situation. Another favorite baseball
haiku of mine by Cor Van Den Heuvel is:
summer afternoon
the long fly ball to center field
takes its time
This haiku provides
a different perspective on a baseball game. The one previously discussed
painted a picture from a player’s point of view, while I interpreted
this one as being from a spectator’s point of view. Baseball
games are generally very long and drawn out, but that is exactly
what makes attending games so fun in the summer. The great joy lies
in relaxing in the sun and enjoying an afternoon at the ballpark.
This haiku brought me to the bleachers with my friends watching
a game enjoying the time spent together; good feelings were stirred
up by this haiku. Cor Van Den Heuvel brought the joy of watching
baseball to life in this haiku.
Great haiku
authors often discuss the simple things in life, and Cor Van Den
Heuvel does just that with great success. The incorporation of everyday
life into haikus provides for an excellent read. One such simple
haiku is:
reading a
mystery
a cool breeze comes through
the beach roses
From this haiku,
I envisioned a woman sitting on her back porch, facing the ocean,
spending her free-time reading. She is simply enjoying her time
alone with the stress of life pushed to the side for a few hours.
This haiku does not discuss any profound event or occasion, just
a breezy day and the activities partaken in on that day. Life can
be simple like this though; deep meaningful events do not occur
very often. Readers like poetry that they can relate to and feel
some sort of emotional connection to. This particular haiku provides
for that opportunity by focusing on a simple, "nothing special",
event. Another Van Den Heuvel haiku detailing such simplicity is:
dark road
sparks from a cigarette
bounce behind the car
This haiku details
a simple drive on a country road. The image resulting from a reading
of this haiku is very vivid; the reader can clearly envision a car
moving along a dirt road, completely alone, with no color any where
except for the sparks from the cigarette that was just thrown out
of the car. A night out with friends is brought to life by Cor Van
Den Heuvel in this haiku. I imagine tremendous liveliness inside
the car with a great time being had by all. This haiku is also great
because it leaves a lot to the reader’s imagination. Where
is the car going? Who is in it? Why are they driving on dark roads?
These are questions that can be answered differently by each individual
reader thus providing an opportunity for the reader to extract whatever
he/she chooses from the haiku. Haiku that allow readers to do this
are some of the most amazing ones.
Cor Van Den
Heuvel has written several haiku referring to newspapers and letters.
Though seemingly meaningless subjects, Van Den Heuvel incorporates
these basic objects into his haiku which helps to make it that much
simpler and even easier for his readers to relate to. Newspapers
and letters are items that are a part of everyone’s life at
one point or another. Van Den Heuvel very smoothly slides newspapers
and letters into his haiku; the newspaper or letter is generally
not intended to be the primary focus of the haiku, but these objects
add a special touch of simplicity. One such haiku is:
the evening
paper
on the darkening lawn
first star
I envisioned
dusk with this haiku, most specifically in a residential neighborhood.
The evening paper is delivered to this area just in time for the
stars to come out. I felt very serene and at peace at the end of
this haiku; a simple evening lies ahead for the folks in this particular
lawn’s home. Though calm and serene, this haiku brought to
life a neighborhood at dusk. Though the evening paper is referred
to, I interpreted the primary focus of the haiku to be the appearance
of the first star and the beginning of a clear, beautiful night.
The paper simply adds that needed touch which connects the haiku
to people’s everyday lives. This haiku provides an opportunity
for the reader to imagine on his/her own what exactly the neighborhood
is like, what is in the paper for that evening, and who’s home
is it which this paper will soon be in. Great haiku are sure not
to give too much information away and instead allow the reader to
answer those questions on their own. Many of Cor Van Den Heuvel’s
haiku do just this.
Another haiku
with reference to correspondence is:
through the
small holes
in the mailbox
sunlight on a blue stamp
This haiku created
an image of a country home for me, where the mailbox is most
likely far away from the actual house. It is early morning and the
mailman has yet to arrive, but the inhabitants of the house are
anxiously awaiting his/her arrival so that their letter will finally
be mailed off. This haiku brings to life a simple letter with a
bright, blue stamp. This letter is preparing to take a journey to
a specified destination; the sunlight is providing a sort of encouragement
and "good luck" wish to the letter. Though only a piece
of paper in an envelope, this letter is alive in the mind of the
author. It has tremendous meaning to the writer; it is more than
just a simple sheet of paper. Van Den Heuvel’s haiku are so
great at providing a touch of life to literally lifeless objects.
This is yet another haiku that provides the opportunity for the
reader to use his/her own imagination in determining who wrote the
letter, to whom, and where it is going. More meaning is drawn from
the haiku when the reader is allowed to derive their own interpretations.
Cor Van Den
Heuvel manages to clearly detail the lives of those whom most people
are generally unaware of or cannot easily relate to. He brings the
reader into the haiku and attempts to place the reader in the shoes
of the individual of whom he is writing. Many people do not know
the life of a stripper or of a doctor, but Van Den Heuvel makes
these occupation’s moments real for the reader of his haiku.
Cor’s haiku tell only a piece of a story, and the reader is
responsible for filling in the rest of the details. His haiku are
open-ended and require imagination and insight from the reader.
One such haiku
is:
in her dressing
room
the stripper powders her breasts
and whispers something to them
This haiku details
the importance of a stripper’s body to her career, which is
obvious to people, but Van Den Heuvel subtly refers to this belief.
Alone in her room and in her thoughts, the stripper is preparing
for her time on stage. She is kind to her body and must take care
of it because it is what provides for her. Whispering to her breasts
is a sign of her having to encourage and push herself to do what
she must do to survive. She may not thoroughly enjoy her employment,
but she knows that she has to do it no matter what internal objections
she may have if she hopes to pay the bills and feed herself. Van
Den Heuvel brings the reader into the mind of the stripper in this
haiku and gives insight to the life of a foreign occupation.
Several other
noteworthy Van Den Heuvel haiku are:
November evening
the wind from a passing truck
ripples a roadside puddle
going through
the tunnel
the girl looks at her reflection
so do
I
Cor Van Den
Heuvel has made an unforgettable contribution to the haiku community.
His haiku bring places and objects to life in a way that not many
authors have been able to accomplish. Though often regarding simple,
"nothing special", subjects, Van Den Heuvel brings to
life the seemingly meaningless things in the world. He grants significance
to what many would bypass as insignificant – baseball games,
newspapers, seasonal afternoons. This simplicity is what makes Cor
Van Den Heuvel’s haiku superior to others; he provides an opportunity
for the reader to connect to the haiku, as well as to draw their
own interpretations from it. His haiku are magnets for imagination
thus attracting so many readers to them.
—Amy
Twardowski
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