The imagination, through images

Nirbachito Haiku
Shamsul Alam Khandaker
Nikhil Prokashon

A majestic and rather unorthodox book of poetry, Nirbachito Haiku revolves around the theme of nature with human relevancies as the main catalyst, which constructs the prime foundation of the poems written. This volume brings together the works of poet Shamsul Alam Khandaker, who has written these poems in a diverse format that have originated from the lands of Japan, known as haiku. For those who are not familiar with this form of Japanese poetry, a haiku verse falls in the category of a non-rhyme poem that expresses an image or feeling in the span of three lines, usually with a seasonal orientation. In the case of Nirbachito Haiku, the poet has playfully assembled all the poems in order to deal with nature and the place of human beings within it.
Upon entering the world of Nirbachito Haiku, I instantly got transported into a mystical zone, which was beyond the original range of perception. I was face to face with nature and its connection with day-to-day human lives where boundaries and freedom have spun off rebelliously only to later sheepishly re-arrange themselves symmetrically. It brings to mind an unopened, forbidden wardrobe imploded from the force of its secrets. Appearing harmless in its cheap, cheerful, formic garb about nature and its beauties, it beckoned me closer with its relevance to human beings. Paradoxically, the ambitious poems of this book are transparent, revealing other forms and nuances behind its marbled armor. This is a controlled implosion, carefully crafted and manipulated with all praise and tribute to the extraordinary poet.
'Autumn Night' is perhaps the most surprising and my favorite poem. Seen firstly in the illustrations of the poem I was not touched by its unfathomable mass: dark, silent, dead. However, the haiku in the flesh was majestic: complex, intricate and teeming with life.
Lonely guard!
The scarecrow, vigils.
The booming cornfield
It's hide and seek of cloud and moon
under the dim beam
digging into the heart
An extract from the poem --- my personal analysis of this line breaks it into component parts. But here is the irony: the line cannot be broken. It has no parts; every word is interrelated. Note the beautiful interplay that the poet has tried to create between the loneliness of the scarecrow and the beautiful place of where it is standing, the moon-bathed cornfield! Alone, but not really alone, as it befriends the clouds and the moon and plays with their shadows. What appears in a single glance as dead is ignited upon a second glance and subsequently begins to crackle and smoke and burn as my eye whips around the poem zapping it with life. Suddenly 'Autumn Night' turns into a crawling mass of transcendence and I find myself falling in love with it.
Looking forward, forever
Sudden lingering departure
Alas! My birds of the nest…
The first three lines I can relate to any parent as the subject speaking is the mother bird finally letting go of her children out into the unknown sky. This indicates a solid example of the first stage of growing up as we children learn to live on our own, not to mention the excruciating pain of detachment that our parents have to bear whilst we do so.
There are numerous such poems comprising the most beautiful and equally sad lines as they represent the shallow conformist norms of society --- the war taken out on to the streets --- that emphasize the power of the higher class and the vague importance of the lower class. After I had already read the first half of the book I realized that this work of poetry is apparently a representation of overall life --- youth, age, death, the issues concerning modern harsh reality such as importance of social class and even a slight hint of the war: religion against science.
Towards the end of the book, the poems start to carry hints of irony, arousing the likelihood of satire where human foolishness and vices are subjected to sarcasm, derision and exposure. An instance:
No disparity from now on
Order! Order! Though,
A daughter is equal to half-son
King's men!
Their worth, whatsoever
Immoral in outfit and attire
The first haiku is subjected to irony, the first two lines adamant in demanding the prevention of inequality. However, the last line suggests the bitter mockery that this struggle has been eternally unsuccessful in being implemented entirely, as inequality still remains in vast and traditional cases. The second haiku can be easily identified as sarcasm as people might be the king's men and be enriched with elegant attire.
All of the haikus have wonderful symmetry. They are harsh and truthful, though the forms are often beautiful and the use of colorful language and texture makes them attractive. The haikus investigate the essence of things and attempts to figure out an answer. Perhaps it is the duality within humans that is the 'real' essence which the poet has tried to portray through this masterpiece of a work. The world is easier to understand when there are positions with which to orientate oneself. These poems have definitely helped me doing so as they rejuvenate the senses, leaving one fresh and full of life.
Nirbachito Haiku is a must-read and I recommend this book as the poems are magnificent, juxtaposed in time and situations. The poet's ability to bring them together in one place suggests boundless affinities with human lives, a thought that will capture your mind and soul because of its timeless charm and splendid simplicity.

Shafayin Ahmed is a student at Pearl Fashion Institute, Bangladesh.