Eusociality, Evolved
Two ants: one carrying a leaf-cut; the other, smaller, riding the
leaf and battling any fly who swoops down in hopes of stealing a
bite.
beneath the sickle-moon
a million heartbeats
holding up a mound
―Scott Duke Kominers
Discussion of the Haibun Form
by Scott Duke Kominers
Let me begin with haiku: Good haiku echo within themselves;
they are elliptical, full of space; they echo. for me, a haiku is
successful only if within its space it conveys a unique, singular
image to each reader. (Two readers need not feel the same
image, but each must feel only one image.)
Haibun pairs haiku with detailed, self-aware prose. The prose
travels in time, but is stationary in space.
The haiku in a haibun must be able to stand alone. Meanwhile,
the haibun prose must reinvent the haiku, creating a new
meaning distinct from the old which is nonetheless singular for
each reader. Haibun are successful when they perform this
transmutation so effortlessly that the reader hears only its
echoes.
