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At the Mirror

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Rengay Through the Seasons by Masago & Friends

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A Rengay by Daniela Bullas (db), and Vaughn Seward (vs); Rengay #8, Oct 21-27, 2007

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IdHaijinStanzasSeasonKigoLinkTheme 1:
Human-related Fakeness		Theme 2:
Old/New

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1/dbAll 'round the scarecrow
a large flock of loud blackbirds —
he wears new old clothes.		AutumnScarecrowTo 6: BlackScarecrowOld: Clothes

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2/vsJust-built library courtyard —
Mahatma Gandhi's bronze head.		No Seasonn/aTo 1: Form of a manStatueNew: Library

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3/dbA whodunit book —
disguising his appearance
with a judge’s wig.		No Seasonn/aTo 2: Library / BookWigOld: Judicial style

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4/vsHis peg-leg missing —
the Captain orders "no rum"
till someone 'fesses.		No Seasonn/aTo 3: Who did it?Wooden legOld: Pirates

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5/dbPinocchio's nose — the cricket
sings a modern, pop'lar tune.		AutumnCricketTo 4: Peg-leg / Wooden nosePuppetNew: Tune

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6/vsLightsaber duel:
her dad as Darth Vader and
his mirror image.		No Seasonn/aTo 5: Long cylindrical shapeFictional characterOld: Dad

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Technical Notes:

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Each 3-line haiku is in the 5-7-5 syllable format, and each 2-line haiku is in the 7-7 syllable format.

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3. In England and Wales judges had worn full-bottomed wigs for criminal trials until the 1840s. This old-fashioned custom is now only used for ceremonial dress and in January, 2008 the tradition will be abolished.

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4. The word 'fesses is short for "confesses".

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5. A novel called "The Adventures of Pinocchio" was completed as a book for children in 1883. In the 1940's Disney version of Pinocchio, a cartoon cricket named Jiminy was appointed by the Blue Fairy to serve as the conscience for Pinocchio. He is also a comical and wise partner who accompanies Pinocchio on his adventures. The cricket sang the movie's theme song "When You Wish upon a Star" over the opening credits and again in the final scene of the film.

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6. Lightsaber is a fictional weapon from the Star Wars movies. It is like a saber, but with the metal blade replaced by something resembling a solid bar or cylindrical beam of plasma about one meter long. "Dad" is cited for the Old/New theme not only because dad's are older than kids but usually it's kids that dress up and role play. Isn't Dad a little too old for that? A fun aspect of this verse is that Dad is playing out some childhood fantasy in the mirror (fighting himself), with the hint in the verse that his young daughter is watching.

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The title "At the Mirror" was chosen is it reflects seeing yourself in the mirror as old/young and, of course, the image is fake. It also parallels the reflections in the rengay itself in that the pattern of the Old/New theme is reflective, i.e. old-new-old / old-new-old. As well, the pattern of haijin is mirrored: db-vs-db / vs-db-vs.

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Copyright © Masago 2007 (Vaughn Seward & Daniela Bullas) — All rights reserved.