Saturday, April 7, 2018

CRC Blog Analysis on Sonia Saikaley poetry collection A SAMURAI's PINK HOUSE . . .


*The images in this specific piece are granted copyright privilege by:  Public Domain, CCSAL, GNU Free Documentation Licenses, Fair Use Under The United States Copyright Law, or given copyright privilege by the copyright holder which is identified beneath the individual photo.

**All web links are listed in alphabetic order at the end of this piece.  Some of the links will have to be copied and then posted in your search engine in order to pull up properly



CRC Blog Analysis: 
A Samurai’s Pink House 
by Sonia Saikaley
“The Fate of the Pink House Inhabitants”

       Sonia Saikaley’s second poetry collection, A Samurai’s Pink House, was published on June 15, 2017 by INANNA Publications and Education Inc.; with cover design by Val Fullard.

       Saikaley is also the author of the novel The Lebanese Dishwasher by Quattro Fiction and her first poetry collection Turkish Delight, Montreal Winter by TSAR Publications now known as Mawenzi House Publishers.




Sonia Siakely described her artistic experience of
Writing A Samurai’s Pink House to Cargo Literary Magazine on November 27, 2017:
“In the summer of 2007, I left a secure job and life in Ottawa to teach English in Japan for a year through the Japan Exchange and Teaching (JET) Programme.
 I experienced many things in Japan from eating beef tongue and intestines to wearing a beautiful kimono. I travelled to several different places in Japan and on these journeys I brought my journal, jotting down my experiences as well as writing some poetry, many of which would later become part of A Samurai’s Pink House.
     One of my favourite places in Japan was Matsushima where Matsuo Basho travelled. As I took steps along the pathways and bridges of Matsushima, I imagined Basho walking in these areas. It was quite a beautiful and
magical place with such history and mystery. I went to hot springs, to towns where kokeshi dolls were made, to a castle town with a Samurai’s residence, to shrines and temples. (Above Right:  Woodblock print depicting scenic view of Matsushima.  Attributed to Yoshu Chikanobu 1898).
Across from my apartment building stood this old pink house. Sometimes I’d wake up in the middle of the night and glance out my apartment window, mesmerized by the mystery of that old house, which appeared to be abandoned. However, I could see shadows and I imagined that it once belonged to a Samurai, perhaps a female Samurai, and maybe it was haunted by this powerful spirit. (Above Left:  the pink house photo attributed and granted copyright privilege by Sonia Saikaley)
All these experiences contributed to A Samurai’s Pink House. The poems follow the lives of the famous poet Basho, a young priestess, an apprentice geiko, a cross-dresser kabuki actor and geisha, a female Samurai, and an English-language teacher and explore themes of grief, alienation, acceptance, female identity in a male-dominated culture, and cross-cultural ties. (Above Right:  Sonia Saikaley with her elementary students in the JET Program. Copyright granted by Sonia Saikaley)
This collection also challenges issues of transgender and the role of the female in both Japanese society and society in general. The poems transport readers to another world and time and also provide a convincing psychological insight into Japan’s wondrous culture and how this insight can relate to modern life and our own lives wherever we may live. These poems read like tales that capture the essence of the human heart and reveal a unique perception of modern existence. At times, the poems are fierce and sharply-focused and other times are as soft as the silk of a kimono.
The reader peers into the lives of people rising above traumas relating to gender identity, sexism, grief and loneliness. But underlying these situations, there are threads of hope for healing and happiness.” (Right:  Sonia Saikaley in a Samurai residence.  Copyright granted by Sonia Saikaley)
The result is her second poetry collection A Samurai’s Pink House, which features 108 pages of 89 poems.  For this specific feature the CRC Blog will focus on the female Samurai, an English language teacher, and the famous poet Basho. (Left:  Sonia Saikaley with her Junior High School students in the JET Program. Copyright granted by Sonia Saikaley)
       In “The Obedient” the female samurai has a gift of wielding the sword and this gift makes her brothers and her father proud and view her as a trophy in order to proclaim themselves champions.   Other males feel threatened by this woman’s special gift and one of the men in the second stanza rapes the virgin female Samurai.  As a result she is forced to marry her rapist to rescue her family from dishonor.  (Right:  Ishi-jo wielding a naginata by Utagawd Kuriyoshi.  Public Domain)
In the last stanza of “The Obedient” the female warrior is never able to regain her honor even after doing everything the men in her life and culture expect her to do to.  As a result the men in her family symbolically rape her again by turning their back on her and not even able to look at her due to shame because she is no longer the trophy that enabled them to be champions. (Above Right:   woman at the Shiogama Shrine.  Attributed and copyright granted by Sonia Saikaley)
      
The rape of the female samurai continues in “Shielded Memories” where she is forced to bear children to the man she hates, forced to give her body away to his children – another form of sexual control the man maintains over her – passing on that aggressive control to her children.  They maintain control over the woman preventing her from expressing her sorrow and frustration.  However, due to the typhoon rains, the woman is finally able to cry freely – the typhoon rains a mask for her real tears. (Above Left: 18th century Japanese Painting).

The female samurai lost in cries
of her own and her children’s
the drip of raindrops sliding down
rooftops and mingling
blade up striking a shield.

       The raped wife is able to regain some of her honorable identity in the poem “Obon Conception” which describes the Japanese Buddhist holiday and festival, which takes place either in July or August depending on the calendar being followed.  During the three days of the festival individuals visit their ancestors’ graves and participate in feasts, bonfires, and dancing. (Above Right:  Participants at the Obon Festival praying for their ancestors souls in Praying A Soul Out of Purgatory attributed to JMW Silver)
The most traditional and holiest of all dances is the Bon-Odori. which originated from the disciple of Buddha Maha Maudgalyayana who discovers that his mother is suffering in the Realm of Hungry Ghosts.   He pleads with Buddha to release his mother from her torment.  Buddhist commands him to offer sacrifices to the Buddhist monks who had just returned from their summer travels.  He obeys Buddha and as a result Buddha’s rescues his mother.  To celebrate, he dances a joy that is now known as Bon Odori Dance.  (Above Left: 18th century painting depicting Mulian also known as Maha saves his mother).
Wikipedia describes this dance with “people lining up in a circle around a high wooden scaffold” and “some dancers proceed clockwise, and some dances proceed counter-clockwise around the yagura.”  The yagura could be described as the tomb, or the grave, or even a whole in the side of a mountain but in today’s tradition it is normally a bandstand.  The dancers then reverse and face the bandstand, move towards it, and then away from it.   The dance could involve people proceeding in a straight line through the town’s streets.   Regardless of how the woman in the poem “Obon Conception” dances we know she is complete and full of honor even if for only those three days. (Above Right:  Bon Odori Dancers at Imazu Primary School in Osaka in August 2004).

Sometimes she felt those samurai days,
the wind grasping her face like her mother
would before she rode battle.

Those days had vanished,
she no longer wore her armour but an apron,
the wind loose at her cheeks, her mother’s
hands a memory as well.

Three days, the memory lived
as she danced with her mother.

In a way A Sumurai’s Pink House is Sonia Saikaley dancing her own version of the Bon Odori Dance, where she dances to a connection with her spiritual ancestor Basho, who shares her own sense of loneliness. (Left:  Sonia Saikaley belly dancing with her students in the JET Program.  Copyright granted by Sonia Saikaley).
There are numerous poems in this collection that describe the loneliness that Saikaley endured during her year in Japan: “The Pink Moonlight;” “Snow Angels;” “Blue Rooftops;” “The Language of Frogs;” and “Hokkaido Hot Springs.” (Right:  A Thousand Trees attributed to and copyright granted by Sonia Saikaley).
In “Pink Moonlight” the speaker of the poem Saikaley is kneeling on a tatami, a Japanese wooden flooring, and converses with Basho under the floating music of the shamisen, a three string traditional Japanese musical instrument.   As the music plays Basho senses her loneliness and her homesickness. (Right:  Ryogo Itabashi's beautiful performance of the shamiser.  Attributed and copyright granted by Pearl Pirie).

He asked about her family,
life in the village:
Did she miss it?

Basho’s concern for the speaker of the poem enables her to rise in a poised stand up position – a position of being accepted and experiencing expectation.  She smiles at Basho. (Left:  Statue of Basho with Sonia Saikaley.  Two photos photoshopped by CRC Blog).

Is that comfortable?  Basho asked.

Basho’s concern for the speaker of the poem makes her loneliness and her homesickness disappear even if momentarily and she experiences a spiritual metamorphosis– she is the geisha for the arts – dancing, music, and poetry. (Right - 18th century painting of a geisha).

Her hands lifted to her cheeks
where moonlight exposed
her white-painted face pink.

      
Basho’s empathy for the speaker of the poem in “Pink Moonlight” can be traced back to the poem “Grief” where Basho tries to reconnect with his mother, who has been dead for the past four years (Left:  painting of Basho attributed to Hokusaii.  Public Domain).
       
Basho has a memory of himself and his mother when he was just a boy and both in the family kitchen.  Mother and son flatten the dough with their own bare feet as they laugh their own mother-son
language.  His mother then gives him raw udon to eat.  Instead of a samurai sword as the symbol of their honor for one another it is the Japanese pasta udon that is the symbol of the honor between mother and son. (Right:  Buddhist monk making udon with his feet.) 
Basho, now an adult, remembers his mother in the kitchen, but unlike the dishonored raped samurai, he views his mother’s role in the kitchen as a role of honor, where she, almost like a priestess, gives her child-son his spiritual communion of udon, which he eats with relish.   

I am Basho’s mother, she said proudly
even before his words reached
the nobility and soared into the sky.

       The speaker of the poem, the English language teacher, and Sonia Saikaley are one in the same – and the trinity of this one person experiences spiritual, artistic and emotional catharsis in the poem “Best Fortune” as she climbs her way up to the red Shiogama Shrine, hearing the sound of red copper bells ringing.  After clapping her hands and praying to the sound of the bells she follows the priestess. (Right:  Shiogama Shrine in the springtime.)

White ribbons in her hands,
she ties them to a branch.

Then helps me unfold my fate,
translates:  Best fortune.   




Cargo Literary Magazine Web Page

Val Fullard Web Page

INANNA Publications and Education Inc. Facebook Page

INANNA Publications and Education Inc. Web Page

J.E.T. Program (Japenese Exchange and Teaching) Web Page

The Lebanese Dishwasher

Quattro Fiction Facebook Page

Quattro Fiction Web Page

A Samurai’s Pink House

Sonia Saikaley Facebook Page

Sonia Saikaley Web Page

TSAR Publications Now Known as Mawenzi House Publishers Facebook Page

TSAR Publications Now Known as Mawenzi House Publishers Web Page

Friday, March 30, 2018

#14 Backstory of the Poem - Ibrahim Honjo's "Colors"


*The images in this specific piece are granted copyright privilege by:  Public Domain, CCSAL, GNU Free Documentation Licenses, Fair Use Under The United States Copyright Law, or given copyright privilege by the copyright holder which is identified beneath the individual photo.

**Some of the links will have to be copied and then posted in your search engine in order to pull up properly

***This is the fourteenth in a never-ending series called BACKSTORY OF THE POEM where the Chris Rice Cooper Blog (CRC) focuses on one specific poem and how the poet wrote that specific poem.   All of the BACKSTORY OF THE POEM series links are posted at the end of this piece. 
Backstory of the Poem
“Colors”
by Ibrahim Honjo

Can you go through the step-by-step process of writing this poem from the moment the idea was first conceived in your brain until final form?  I developed the first draft while driving to work one morning. Every time I stopped at a red light I quickly scribbled down what was in my head until the next red light. Sometimes ideas for poems come like this to me and this is the only way to keep the idea alive. Sometimes I’ll be thinking of different things and an idea sparks in my head for a poem; this is what happened with this poem. I finished this poem in my car at the office parking lot before work that day. 
When I came home I typed up this poem into the computer. I corrected it along the way while putting it into the computer. I re-read it when I finished typing it so I could fix the mistakes, and try to replace some words for better ones. A week later I went back to the poem and tried to improve it as much as I could again. Before I decided to publish it I read it again several times and make sure everything sounds right.
Where were you when you started to actually write the poem? And please describe the place in great detail?  When the idea came to me I was sitting in my red car about one kilometre away from my house. I was about nine kilometres away from my office in the city. Driving there I passed so many different buildings, cars, and people. Being on the move it’s difficult to describe something in great detail. Everything goes in fast motion like the way my poem came to my head. I didn’t have time to look at my surroundings I wanted to keep the idea alive. (Right Ibrahim Honjo in his red car in March of 2018)
What month and year did you start writing this poem?  It was February of 2007 when I wrote this poem. (Left Ibrahim Honjo at a poetry event in  2007)


How many drafts of this poem did you write before going to the final? (And can you share a photograph of your rough drafts with pen markings on it?)  My first draft was done on paper with pen. My second one was done on a computer that went through many phases of revising. I edited this poem from February of 2007 and I was satisfied with the poem in March of 2011. Since I wrote all my poems first draft on a tiny piece of pocket sized paper, it is difficult to track where I filed them. My handwriting is extremely illegible for other people. I alone have a difficult time reading what I wrote which frustrates me and tends to lead to me throwing the papers away once they’re on the computer. I keep everything in my computer so it is easy to read for everyone and easy to edit. In my lifetime of writing I have learned that a poem is never finished. Sometimes, after I publish a book I go back and find words that I would’ve liked to change and I do so in my manuscript.
Were there any lines in any of your rough drafts of this poem that were not in the final version? And can you share them with us?
I feel that this question was also answered in question four.

What do you want readers of this poem to take from this poem?  I want readers to carefully read the entire poem and to take these verses as a message:
let love break from its own shell 
and flow from your poem 
flow from your picture 
let the Earth and space hug each other firmly like the two of us
let the universe love the Earth 
so that love can break down all barriers
I would like to break circles and to destroy boundaries we are all winners 
a test of love and geometry and the test of tolerance (Above Right - artwork attributed to Ibrahim Honjo)
Which part of the poem was the most emotional of you to write and why?  This entire poem is kind of emotional, but the emotions cannot kill our heart. The best part of the entire poem I presented under question number six. I wrote this poem because I want to tell people what we all almost forget in our lives, and we don’t care about it enough or many people don’t care at all. (Left artwork attributed to Ibrahim Honjo)

Has this poem been published before? And if so where?  Yes. This poem was published online in several poetry groups and on my Facebook timeline. It was also published in my book “Poems didn’t want to write, some other dreams” 2011.


Anything you would like to add?  Your blog is really excellent and very interesting. I love it. I’m very happy to be part of your project. Thank you for this opportunity. Congratulations dear Cristy and good luck on your way. (Left Photo attributed to Ibrahim Honjo)

COLOURS

I am a black cloud
You are an angel

You are a black cloud
I am an angel
We are from the universe

We are hugging each other without end
Somewhere between the beginning
and the end

Some other eyes are around us

And between us

For some reason

Look at me my angel
I am red

You are green

I am yellow
You are blue

Do we have enough magic arrows
To protect this world from itself


This is new geometry

Everything belongs to circles

Even you and me

I have encompassed you
with the circle of my hands 

the measurement is two feet 



imagine red-black 

black and green
black and blue
blue-yellow 

dancing tango 

let’s dance too 

here in the moonlight to make millions of circles
in the centre of the globe
let’s dance
so that we scatter love

and its benefits

and the Earth

and the universe
with the speed of light
let love break from its own shell 

and flow from your poem 

flow from your picture
let the Earth and space hug each other
firmly like the two of us 

let the universe love the Earth 

so that love can break down all barriers 


I would like to break circles
and to destroy boundaries
we are all winners
a test of love and geometry

and the test of tolerance



Ibrahim Honjo was born in 1948 in the former Yugoslavia. Since January 1995 he has lived in Canada.
 Honjo is a poet-writer, sculptor, painter, photographer, and property manager who writes in his native language and in English.  His work has appeared in many magazines, newspapers, and on radio stations in Yugoslavia where he worked as an economist and journalist. He was also a book editor; newspapers editor; marketing director; and organizer of many poetry events and festivals. His poems have also been published in several magazines and radio stations in Canada and USA.

He is the author of 25 published books and one book with another author. His work is represented in more than 20 anthologies. Some of his poems have been translated into: Italian, Spanish, Korean, Slovenian, Bahsa and German.



Honjo received several prizes for his poetry: - Award for book “Stone to stone” 1976. Yugoslavia
- Word poetry life time Achievement Award 2010, Canada
- Several editors’ awards and awards for excellence in Canada and US - Pentasi B Award 2016, Ghana
- Several awards in India 2016
- Award R.M.P 2017. Morocco
He attended to: - Reckoning 2007, an appraisal of BC writing & publishing, Vancouver, Canada. - Word on the Street (National Book and magazine festival) 2009 Vancouver.
- Africa Day Festival 2007 and 2008
- Pandora’s Summer Dream Festival Vancouver- Denman Car free festival Vancouver
- At least 20 poetry festivals in former Yugoslavia.(1971 – 1991.) - Poetry Festival Pentasi B, Accra, Ghana.2016
- Poetry festival in Jaipur India 2016
- Writers conference in Udaipur India 2016
- Poetry festival Rabat Morocco 2017.


001  December 29, 2017
Margo Berdeshevksy’s “12-24”

002  January 08, 2018
Alexis Rhone Fancher’s “82 Miles From the Beach, We Order The Lobster At Clear Lake Café”

003 January 12, 2018
Barbara Crooker’s “Orange”

004 January 22, 2018
Sonia Saikaley’s “Modern Matsushima”

005 January 29, 2018
Ellen Foos’s “Side Yard”

006 February 03, 2018
Susan Sundwall’s “The Ringmaster”

007 February 09, 2018
Leslea Newman’s “That Night”

008 February 17, 2018
Alexis Rhone Fancher “June Fairchild Isn’t Dead”

009 February 24, 2018
Charles Clifford Brooks III “The Gift of the Year With Granny”

010 March 03, 2018
Scott Thomas Outlar’s “The Natural Reflection of Your Palms”

011 March 10, 2018
Anya Francesca Jenkins’s “After Diane Beatty’s Photograph “History Abandoned”

012  March 17, 2018
Angela Narciso Torres’s “What I Learned This Week”

013 March 24, 2018
Jan Steckel’s “Holiday On ICE”

https://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2018/03/13-backstory-of-poem-jan-steckels.html

014 March 31, 2018
Ibrahim Honjo’s “Colors”

https://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2018/03/14-backstory-of-poem-ibrahim-honjos.html

015 April 14, 2018
Marilyn Kallett’s “Ode to Disappointment”

https://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2018/04/15-backstory-of-poem-ode-to_14.html

016  April 27, 2018
Beth Copeland’s “Reliquary”

https://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2018/04/16-backstory-of-poem-reliquary-by-beth.html

017  May 12, 2018
Marlon L Fick’s “The Swallows of Barcelona”


018  May 25, 2018
Juliet Cook’s “ARTERIAL DISCOMBOBULATION”


019  June 09, 2018
Alexis Rhone Fancher’s “Stiletto Killer. . . A Surmise”

https://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2018/06/19-backstory-of-poem-stiletto-killer.html

020 June 16, 2018
Charles Rammelkamp’s “At Last I Can Start Suffering”

https://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2018/06/20-backstory-of-poem-at-least-i-can.html

021  July 05, 2018
Marla Shaw O’Neill’s “Wind Chimes”



022 July 13, 2018
Julia Gordon-Bramer’s “Studying Ariel”

023 July 20, 2018
Bill Yarrow’s “Jesus Zombie”

https://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2018/07/23-backstory-of-poem-jesus-zombie-by.html

024  July 27, 2018
Telaina Eriksen’s “Brag 2016”

https://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2018/07/24-backstory-of-poem-brag-2016-by.html

025  August 01, 2018
Seth Berg’s (It is only Yourself that Bends – so Wake up!”



026  August 07, 2018
David Herrle’s “Devil In the Details”