美国国家公共电台 NPR Summer Memories: Share Yours As A Haiku

 

RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:

Whether you grew up in the city or the country or anywhere in between, you probably remember plenty of summers catching¹ lightning bugs², playing in a gushing³ fire hydrant, logrolling down hills maybe.

KWAME ALEXANDER: OK. I don't remember logrolling down hills.

MARTIN: (Laughter).

ALEXANDER: I lived in Brooklyn. But we did play stickball.

MARTIN: Kwame Alexander, how's it going?

ALEXANDER: It's great. How are you, Rachel?

MARTIN: I'm doing well.

(SOUNDBITE OF DJ JAZZY JEFF & THE FRESH PRINCE SONG, "SUMMERTIME")

MARTIN: Oh, yeah.

ALEXANDER: Oh, yeah (laughter).

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "SUMMERTIME")

UNIDENTIFIED SINGER: (Singing) Oh, yeah, summertime, summer, summer, summertime.

MARTIN: You know why we're playing that song, Kwame?

ALEXANDER: Of course, I do, but enlighten me.

MARTIN: It's summertime. It makes everybody happy. There are all kinds of opportunities for poetry, I think. I know you probably agree. And while there's a lot of beauty in the long narrative⁴ poem, I understand you are feeling the haiku right now.

ALEXANDER: I am. And talk about feeling the haiku as the poem of the summer - it's short and sweet, like summer memories.

MARTIN: Right.

ALEXANDER: Especially for my kid because before you know it, she'll be back in school.

MARTIN: (Laughter)

ALEXANDER: I remember Coney Island. I remember cutting grass for $5 a lawn. I remember football in the streets. I remember two turntables and a tape deck, rapping in my basement - summer vacation.

MARTIN: Look, I feel like that was all just a poem. I mean, mine aren't as poetic⁶. I do just remember that feeling of total and complete freedom - right? - just on your bike riding around. You don't have to be home till it's dark outside.

ALEXANDER: Yeah.

MARTIN: No one's tracking you on the cellphone. You're just free to do your thing.

ALEXANDER: We didn't have cellphones back then.

MARTIN: No, we did not. No, we did not.

ALEXANDER: So we want to take those memories and use them to construct haiku. And it's really easy to do. It's a three-line poem with five syllables⁷ in the first line, seven in the second and five in the third.

MARTIN: All right. So we should share an example. I've got one. This is a haiku by the Japanese poet, Kobayashi Issa. Here it is. (Reading) squatting⁸ motionless, the sun-tanned child and the toad⁹ stare at each other.

ALEXANDER: Can't you just see a kid in July eyeing a frog with adventure and awe¹⁰ in her eyes?

MARTIN: I love it.

ALEXANDER: OK. So here's one from the novelist Richard Wright, who many people don't know wrote haiku also. (Reading) The sudden thunder startles the magnolias to a deeper white.

MARTIN: I love magnolias. I love thinking about that smell in summertime.

ALEXANDER: It's nothing like the smell of sweet candy during the summer.

MARTIN: It's true.

All right so, listeners, you and your kids, this is what we want you to do. We want you to write a summer haiku with your own memories, right? So you can send it in, this haiku, based on your memories from your childhood summers that paints a picture of what summer meant to you and means to you now.

ALEXANDER: Exactly, and try your best to follow the rules - the five syllables in the first, seven in the second, five in the third. And try not to use the word summer in your poem.

MARTIN: Ooh.

ALEXANDER: Yeah. Let the images alone evoke¹¹ the memory of the season.

MARTIN: That's a good idea. All right. Send your submissions¹² in writing, or you can record a voice memo⁵ by going to npr.org/summerhaiku. And next time Kwame and I are together in the studio, we will read or play a few of your poems.

ALEXANDER: I can't wait.

MARTIN: It's going to be cool.

Kwame Alexander is the author of "The Undefeated" and a new picture book titled "How To Read A Book." He is also a regular contributor to this very program.

Kwame, thank you so much. Happy summer.

ALEXANDER: Watermelon hugs to you my friend.

MARTIN: Oh, yum.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "SUMMERTIME")

WILL SMITH: (Rapping) Back then, I didn't really know what it was. But now I see...

1 catching   

adj.易传染的，有魅力的，迷人的，接住

参考例句：

• There are those who think eczema is catching.有人就是认为湿疹会传染。
• Enthusiasm is very catching.热情非常富有感染力。

2 bugs   

adj.疯狂的，发疯的n.窃听器( bug的名词复数 )；病菌；虫子；[计算机]（制作软件程序所产生的意料不到的）错误

参考例句：

• All programs have bugs and need endless refinement. 所有的程序都有漏洞，都需要不断改进。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The sacks of rice were swarming with bugs. 一袋袋的米里长满了虫子。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 gushing   

adj.迸出的；涌出的；喷出的；过分热情的v.喷，涌( gush的现在分词 )；滔滔不绝地说话

参考例句：

• blood gushing from a wound 从伤口冒出的血
• The young mother was gushing over a baby. 那位年轻的母亲正喋喋不休地和婴儿说话。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 narrative   

n.叙述，故事；adj.叙事的，故事体的

参考例句：

• He was a writer of great narrative power.他是一位颇有记述能力的作家。
• Neither author was very strong on narrative.两个作者都不是很善于讲故事。

5 memo   

n.照会，备忘录；便笺；通知书；规章

参考例句：

• Do you want me to send the memo out?您要我把这份备忘录分发出去吗？
• Can you type a memo for me?您能帮我打一份备忘录吗？

6 poetic   

adj.富有诗意的，有诗人气质的，善于抒情的

参考例句：

• His poetic idiom is stamped with expressions describing group feeling and thought.他的诗中的措辞往往带有描写群体感情和思想的印记。
• His poetic novels have gone through three different historical stages.他的诗情小说创作经历了三个不同的历史阶段。

7 syllables   

n.音节( syllable的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• a word with two syllables 双音节单词
• 'No. But I'll swear it was a name of two syllables.' “想不起。不过我可以发誓，它有两个音节。” 来自英汉文学 - 双城记

8 squatting   

v.像动物一样蹲下( squat的现在分词 )；非法擅自占用（土地或房屋）；为获得其所有权；而占用某片公共用地。

参考例句：

• They ended up squatting in the empty houses on Oxford Road. 他们落得在牛津路偷住空房的境地。
• They've been squatting in an apartment for the past two years. 他们过去两年来一直擅自占用一套公寓。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 toad   

n.蟾蜍，癞蛤蟆

参考例句：

• Both the toad and frog are amphibian.蟾蜍和青蛙都是两栖动物。
• Many kinds of toad hibernate in winter.许多种蟾蜍在冬天都会冬眠。

10 awe   

n.敬畏，惊惧；vt.使敬畏，使惊惧

参考例句：

• The sight filled us with awe.这景色使我们大为惊叹。
• The approaching tornado struck awe in our hearts.正在逼近的龙卷风使我们惊恐万分。

11 evoke   

vt.唤起，引起，使人想起

参考例句：

• These images are likely to evoke a strong response in the viewer.这些图像可能会在观众中产生强烈反响。
• Her only resource was the sympathy she could evoke.她以凭借的唯一力量就是她能从人们心底里激起的同情。

12 submissions   

n.提交( submission的名词复数 )；屈从；归顺；向法官或陪审团提出的意见或论据

参考例句：

• The deadline for submissions to the competition will be Easter 1994. 递交参赛申请的截止时间为1994年的复活节。 来自辞典例句
• Section 556(d) allows the agency to substitute written submissions for oral direct testimony in rulemaking. 第五百五十六条第（四）款准允行政机关在规则制定中用书面提交材料替代口头的直接证言。 来自英汉非文学 - 行政法