Read Miami Blues for Free Online Page B

write your papers, pore-- _p-or-e_ --over your dictionaries for concrete words. When you write in English, force your reader to reach for something."
    There was a snicker at the back of the room.
    "Basho wrote haikus in the seventeenth century, and they're still being read and talked about in Japan today. There are a couple of hundred haiku magazines in Japan, and every month articles are still being written about Basho's most famous haiku. I'll give you the literal translation instead of a seventeen-syllable translation."
    He wrote on the blackboard:
    Old pond.
    Frog jumps in.
    Water sound.
    "There you have it," Mr. Turner said, scratching his beard with the piece of chalk. "Old pond. Frog jumps in. Water sound. What's missing, of course, is the onomatopoeia of the water sound. But the meaning is clear enough. What does it mean?"
    He looked around the room but was unsuccessful in catching anyone's eye. The students, with sullen mouths and lowered lids, studied books and papers on their armrest desk tops.
    "I can wait," Mr. Turner said. "You know me well enough by now to know that I can wait for a volunteer for about fifteen minutes before my patience runs out. I wish I could wait longer, because while I'm waiting for volunteers I don't have to teach." He folded his arms.
    A young man wearing cut-off jeans, a faded blue tank top, and scuffed running shoes without socks, lifted his right hand two inches above his desk top.
    "You, then," the teacher said, pointing with his chalk.
    "What it means, I think," the student began, "is that there's an old pond of water. This frog, wanting to get into the water, comes along and jumps in. When he plops into the water he makes a sound, like splash."
    "Very good! That's about as literal an interpretation as you can get. But if that's all there is to the poem, why would serious young men in Japan write papers about this poem every month in their haiku magazines? But, thank you. At least we have the literal translation out of the way.
    "Now, let's say that Miami represents the old pond. You, or most of you, anyway, came here from somewhere else. You come to Miami, that is, and you jump into this old pond. We've got a million and a half people here already, so the splash you make isn't going to make a very large sound. Or is it? It surely depends upon the frog. Some of you, I'm afraid, will make a very large splash, and we'll all hear it. Some will make a splash so faint that it won't be heard by your next door neighbor. But at least we're all in the same pond, and--"
    There was a knock on the door. Annoyed, Mr. Turner crossed to the door and opened it. Freddy leaned forward and whispered to Susan. "That's some pretty heavy shit he's laying down. D'you know what he's talking about?"
    Susan shook her head.
    "Us! You, your brother, and me. What's that other word mean he keeps talking about--_onomatopoeia?_"
    "It's the word for the actual sound. Like _splash_, when the frog jumps in."
    "Right! See what I mean?" Freddy's eyes glittered. "You and me, Susan. We're going to make us a big splash in this town."
    6
    Professor Turner stepped back into the room and cleared his throat. "Is Susan Waggoner here today?"
    Susan raised her hand.
    "Come out into the hallway, please. Bring your things with you."
    Susan put her books into her oversize bag. Freddy followed her into the corridor, carrying the laundry bag. The teacher frowned at Freddy and shook his head.
    "This doesn't concern you, son. Go back to your seat."
    "If it concerns Susan it concerns me," Freddy said. "We're engaged."
    Sergeant Hoke Moseley, looking at the floor, lifted his head and nodded when the student assistant asked him if she could leave.
    "Susan," Mr. Turner said, "do what you've got to do, and stay out of school as long as it takes. When you return to class, see me in my office and I'll let you make up any assignments you missed." He looked sternly at Freddy for a long moment. "You've already missed several classes, but the same