Gap and Gift: Madeleine Findlay on a haiku by Issa

hana no kage aka no tannin wa nakari keri

thanks to the blossoms -

on the ground that they’ve shaded

no one’s a stranger

trans. by Lewis Mackenzie

When I was a kid, I used to doodle during classes. Drawing made it easier for me to concentrate and hear what the teacher was saying. The girls competing for attention, the teacher’s next move or a spitball flying through the air worried me. For me, this haiku captures a similar feeling of finding connection through otherness. The pencil and paper grounded me and allowed me to hear what was being said in an uninterrupted flow of words.

The broad picture in this haiku is of cherry blossom viewing and the unity it creates in admiring crowds, not unlike star-gazing, or moon viewing. However, the word “shaded” dilutes the awe. It has deep associations. It suggests relief from the heat and a more reflective state of mind. “Stranger” adds mystery. The word feels coded and is hard to fit with the rest of the haiku. Like a puzzle where the pieces are not yet turned in the right direction, the haiku needs to be shifted around in consciousness. Secondary meanings are usually inherent in haiku but here the words for a second meaning are out in the open.

“No kage” is polyvocal. It means both “in the shadow of” as well as “protected by” or “thanks to.” This points to the idea of the gift which opens the haiku up to a bigger concept. Without the blossoms, there would be no shade. So, paradoxically, more than the transient beauty of these ephemeral flowers, there is a more permanent interpretation. The shade exists on the ground. It creates otherness – not unlike a reflection. This doubleness opens up the gap with the gift giving of itself. For me, feeling the shade helps me to see the blossoms by giving them dimension. This furthers their actuality. Similarly, I furthered my actuality by drawing, by proving myself real so I could go beyond the distractions and hear what was being said.

“No one’s a stranger” in this context extends beyond the unity of the group under the tree and into the realm of each individual where no one is a stranger to him or her self. This allows the sense of community to split into its opposite with each person experiencing the gift, not just receiving it.