Free Haiku!

This “reactive” (a.k.a. responsive or interactive) poem does an admirable job of representing the haiku in digital media, much like “Basho’s Frogger” by Neil Hennessy. Built upon a looping image of a drawing of a tree changing through the seasons, while a stick figure walks across the screen representing its shifting mood through body language. As the reader moves the pointer on the screen, different words emerge, allowing for the discovery of different phrases, depending upon one’s mouse movements. Juxtaposition of images and a connection to nature along with the speaker’s “posture” towards the material are all represented in this brief poem. The question of the title remains: is this a “free haiku” because it is offered gratis or because it has somehow been liberated from convention? Both readings are plausible, given the politics and poetics of Dada.

(Source: Leonardo Flores)