It is a pleasure to read these 50 haiku from Slovenia, a country I have
now visited twice to participate in world-wide haiku and literature
events. All 50 of these haiku are highly advanced and full of poetic
substance.

What most interests me here is that these haiku show clearly six actual
extensions of the haiku.

The first is the most basic: realism. Rade Krstic writes a realist haiku
as follows:

outside in the wind
the hands of a drinker
extended

In a few words, Krstic draws precisely a drinker’s gesture, immediately
suggesting his mind. Among 50 haiku, we can find half a doze or so
realist short poems.

The second extension derives from the first: existentialism. In
existentialist haiku, mental suggestion always surpasses accurate
description. It seems to me that Slovenian poets tend to compose
existentialist haiku.

hail and wind-
the cross all that’s left
of the scarecrow
Edin Saracevic

ancient chimneys
don’t reach
the blue sky
Ivan Volaric Feo

Icy tears.
The north wind is looking for the port
through torn sails
Rudi Robic

We can find about 20 existentialist haiku in this anthology. In general,
existentialist haiku represents the painful reality of human
mentality.

The third is lighter than the previous two: impressionism. Impressionist
haiku catches things more freely and spontaneously.

autumn forest-
step by step
whisper by whisper
Alenka Zorman

Garden-window open . . .
Sheets catch the smell
of quinces
Maja Cerar

A joyous sensibility activates impressionist haiku.

The fourth extension is psychological, specifically those that
describes mainly the human psyche.

Nature’s white veil.
I am thinking about
my daughter
Zvonka Bizjak

All the tears flow
down into the small, round
caves of laughter
Breda Konte

These haiku successfully seize the delicacy and ambivalence of the human
heart. Psychological haiku are not so prevalent in this volume.

The two other extensions have limited examples, but they are highly
precious for haiku expression. The fifth is surrealism. Alma Anakiev’s
haiku is an excellent example of this extension.

washing up
in a coffee pot
the desert

The third line of this haiku “the desert” is not a metaphor, but
suggests something surprising and extremely real for us all. The last
extension is mythology. We can say it is the most traditional in any
culture.

Proteus anguinus
is looking at the stalactites
by inner eye
Francek Rudolf

Polog cave –
the darkness older than night
is the soul of mountain
Dimitar Anakiev

These two poets utilize Greek mythology or more archetypical animism to
recreate contemporary myth that reveals eternal reality for not only the
Slovenian people but for all humanity.

Thus we can realize haiku is such a promising poetic form in Slovenia. I
hope all six kinds of haiku flowers will flourish more and more
brilliantly.

Fujimi, Japan, the 17 February 2002

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English translation Ban'ya Natsuishi & Jim Kacian