As it should have become clear from my recent writings on Dahlia Lithwick, I think she is brilliant in her analyses of the U.S. Supreme Court, its justices, cases and opinions.
But her talents don’t stop at the Supreme Court’s magnificent entrance.
I came across a set of 18 little poems, written by Lithwick over at Slate. I am told they are written in “haiku form.”
Since I am not familiar with haiku, I looked up a definition in Wikipedia. This is what they have to say:
Haiku (haikai verse?) , plural haiku, is a form of Japanese poetry, consisting of 17 moras (or on), in three metrical phrases of 5, 7, and 5 moras respectively. Haiku typically contain a kigo, or seasonal reference, and a kireji or verbal caesura. In Japanese, haiku are traditionally printed in a single vertical line, while haiku in English usually appear in three lines, to parallel the three metrical phrases of Japanese haiku. Previously called hokku, haiku was given its current name by the Japanese writer Masaoka Shiki at the end of the 19th century.
As I am not a poetry expert (either), this explanation wasn’t much help to me.
But I’ll take Jeffrey Goldberg’s word at The Atlantic that Lithwick’s poems are haiku.
In fact Goldberg says “Dahlia Lithwick is a Haiku Genius,” and calls her little poems “exquisite.”
Over at Althouse, Ann (Althouse) has a different opinion.
Like me, she admits that she is no poetry expert, but adds “I don’t see why these should count as even marginally good haiku. I suppose the whole thing is that it was done at all — making Senators’ statements about Sotomayor into haiku.” Althouse then gives us some points on writing good haiku.
For me, it’s good enough that Lithwick feels her little poems are haiku. She has been right, “dead-on”, 99 percent of the time. (For the one percent, please read here).
Anyway, in “306 Syllables on Sotomayor,” Lithwick explains the recent Senate Judiciary committee’s votes on Sonia Sotomayor in haiku form.
This is how she introduces them:
It’s a good thing there were yet more speeches today at the Senate judiciary committee’s hearing on Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor. God knows, it’s been a well-kept secret how each senator was poised to vote. The final tally was 13-6 in support of Sotomayor, although there were only 18 speeches (Jon Kyl, R-Ariz., did not speak). For those who missed the proceedings, the following are summaries of each of the senators’ speeches as offered this morning—in haiku form.
Here are the ones I liked best:
Patrick Leahy, D-Vt.
Republicans call
Her failure to make new law
“Activism.” Bah!
Jeff Sessions, R-Ala.
A wise Latina
Would set aside her bias
She just can’t do it
Orrin Hatch, R-Utah
Her speeches and words
Show a disturbing approach
She’s never resolved
Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa
Pit in my stomach
Ricci, Maloney, Didden
Too biased to judge
Russell Feingold, D-Wis.
Theater this is
She dodged all of our questions
But still I vote yea
Lindsey Graham, R-S.C.
Law’s a quiet place
Where unpopular may hope
Young Latinas dream
Tom Coburn, R-Okla.
She wouldn’t defend
The wise Latina comment
So I must vote no
Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I.
I cannot find fault
With empathy in judges
Courts are the last stand
Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn.
A prosecutor
Badass on white collar crime
Tough chick. Just like me.
For those who would like to gauge Lithwick’s haiku, here is what Wikipedia considers to be “possibly the best known Japanese haiku”:
furuike ya
(fu/ru/i/ke ya): 5
kawazu tobikomu
(ka/wa/zu to/bi/ko/mu): 7
mizu no oto
(mi/zu no o/to): 5
Translated:
old pond . . .
a frog leaps in
water’s sound
The author is a retired U.S. Air Force officer and a writer.