An Autumn Wind - Matsuo Basho and Allen Ginsberg

In the early 90s filmmaker iara lee, went to beatnik poet Allen Ginsberg's apartment in the East Village in NYC to record his reading of Matsuo Basho's haiku poems, but instead, the always-irreverent Allen surprised her and asked her to read and record his own haikus. This recording was used in her film poem AN AUTUMN WIND that she filmed in Kyoto’s temples and rock gardens. Enjoy the tranquility of Japanese zen in contrast with the ABC Alphabet City, underground, East Village vibe of Allen Ginsberg.

➡️ A recent viewer described the film like this: "When listening to Matsuo Basho's Haiku, I feel as though someone is lightly brushing my long hair. However, while hearing Allen Ginsberg's Haiku, it's as though someone is cutting all my hair off."

The film was screened on Sundance Film Festival 1996.

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[BUKCOLLECTOR]

Enjoyed!
Herewith is my haiku tribute to Bashō, s frog poem with commentary by the late Jane Reichold who also considered my poem among her top 10 haiku of all time. I was humbled and honored.

Bashō, s frog
four hundred years
of ripples


Commentary:

“At first the idea of picking only 10 of my favorite haiku seemed a rather daunting task. How could I review all the haiku I have read in my life and decide that there were only 10 that were outstanding? Then realized I was already getting a steady stream of excellent haiku day by day through the AHA
forum.

The puns and write-offs based on Basho's most famous haiku are so
numerous I would have said that nothing new could be said with this
method, but here Al Fogel proved me wrong. Perhaps part of my delight in this haiku lies in the fact that I agree with him. Here he is saying one thing
about realism–ripples are on a pond after a frog jumps in, but because it refers back to Basho and his famous haiku, he is also saying something about the haiku and authors who have followed him. We, and our work, are just ripples while Basho holds the honor of inventing the idea of "the
sound of a frog leaping is the sound of water".

As haiku spreads around the world, making ripples in more and larger ponds, its ripples are wider–including us all. But his last word reminds us all that we are only ripples and our lives are that ephemeral. It will be the frogs that will remain”.

All love in isolation from Miami Beach, Florida
-Al

[boadicea]

When listening to Matsuo Basho’s Haiku, I feel as though someone is lightly brushing my long hair. However, while hearing Allen Ginsberg’s Haiku, it’s as though someone is cutting all my hair off.