A Haiku

[Timea]

このオレに kono ore ni
あたたかいのは atatakai no wa
便座だけ benza dake

In translation, it is approximately : For me/ The only warmth/ Comes from my toilet seat.

This Haiku refers to the lack of any kindness a Japanese salary man experiences each day. In Japan, the toilet seat warms up automatically in contact with skin, or through pushing a button, and the temperature is adjustable.

What is your reaction to this Haiku?

(Attached you find a Yoshimoto Nara painting)

[Shia]

At first i thought it was some kind of joke but actually it is quite profound...and a bit sad actually. I wonder what kind of "lack of any kindness" experiences its referring to...? Please elaborate if possible.

[Timea]

Well, actually I responded to this mixture of sarcasm and sadness when I read the text, and decided it was worth thinking about it, or even starting a discussion. I wouldn't go much into over explaining things. It always ruins texts, especially poetry, and even more lacunary poems like haikus. If I were to fill it with some content of my own, I would say lack of real kindness and caring. Of course, when one works in an office for many hours (like so many Japanese men and women voluntarily do, without being even payed for extra hours) you are surrounded by many different individuals. People seem to be nice, but they usually have no clue about your inner world. Neither have you got any idea about theirs. There is no time for that, so you end up feeling rather empty. That is why I attached that picture of Yoshimoto Nara. Many of his paintings transmit subtle sarcasm and he fact that a great number of paintings have only one character surrounded by nothingness. I could go on and on with this, so I'll just end it here, with a silly joke many of you might know from forwarded funny mails you get in an office to kill time : doing a good job here is like wetting your pants in a dark suit. You get a warm feeling but nobody notices.

[Dark]

I think that that is both funny and sad.