Haiku: About Memory

Prompt:

write a haiku about memory, or a memory,--your own or someone else's--that incorporates an image or phrase from the Proust's In Search of Lost Time.

月光に

訪ふ人はただ

ゴロの影

Under the moonlight,

A visitor comes –

Golo's astral body.

訪ふ(とふ): to visit

ゴロ: appears in the medieval legend of Geneviève de Brabant, and is mentioned by Proust.

季語：月光 げっこう (for autumn)

Commentary:

In this haiku, I added the reference to Proust by using "Golo". In In Search of Lost Time, Proust mentioned this name in a scene that the boy (Proust) is playing with the magic lantern in his own room. In this chapter, the boy keeps waiting in his room for his mom to give him a kiss before going to bed. By combining the image of playing with the magic lantern and the image of waiting for mom, I created my own image that only the shadow of "Golo" created by the magic lantern is there with the boy. This is a borrowed image from Proust, but I tried to mix my own experience into it by using "moonlight". When I just began to sleep alone, there was always moonlight spread on the sheet. Although I felt lonely, but the moon was there with me.

It is so rare for me to only have this single version of this haiku. Maybe the reason is related to this borrowed image from others...

I have to say, this is not a ideal picture...

3/4/2024