Enlightenment, Shadows, and Revolutions: A Psychoanalytic Reading of Wilbert Salgado’s Haiku

Wilbert Salgado’s haiku—

—presents fleeting yet profound images that invite psychological exploration than simply look at them as imagery, and it also compresses into six short lines a drama of desire, illusion, and psychic upheaval. The poem juxtaposes the delicate (moth, cricket, bodily urge) with the violent (mamba, coup d’état), creating a space where human consciousness and instinct wrestle and search for meaning The imagery of insects, reptiles, and bodily impulses stages what Jung would call the individuation process (1967/1981), what Fromm theorizes as the conflict between being and having (1976), and what Lacan interprets as the subject’s struggle within the Symbolic order (1977). Reading the haiku through the frameworks of Erich Fromm, Carl Jung, and Jacques Lacan reveals its depth as an allegory of human freedom, unconscious conflict, and desire.

Jung: Archetypes and the Shadow’s Revolt

For Carl Jung, animals in dreams and literature embody archetypal psychic energies. The moth’s attraction to artificial light recalls the ego’s tendency to mistake external sources of illumination for true self-knowledge. Jung cautions that “the aim of individuation is nothing less than to divest oneself of the false wrappings of the persona… and of the suggestive power of primordial images” (Jung, 1967/1981, CW 7, p. 172).

The cricket, an earthy, embodied figure, contrasts with the moth’s delusion, marking the irruption of the unconscious. The sudden urge to touch the nose dramatizes the Shadow’s emergence: instinct demanding recognition. Finally, the black mamba deposing the crowned eagle dramatizes what Jung calls the confrontation with the Shadow, where repressed energies dethrone the inflated ego (Jung, 1959, Aion, p. 21). The coup is not merely political but psychic: the unconscious staging its revolt against false sovereignty.

The poem does resonate with archetypal imagery. The “black mamba” also seen as a usurper embodies the shadow archetype, the dark, destructive potential within the psyche. In this instance, Jung reminds us: “One does not become enlightened by imagining figures of light, but by making the darkness conscious” (Jung, 1954/1968, p. 265). In Salgado’s haiku, the coup d’état symbolizes an eruption of the unconscious shadow overthrowing the conscious ideal (the crowned eagle). The eagle, often a symbol of vision, kingship, and transcendence, is deposed by primal instinct. Enlightenment here is not serenity, but confrontation with the destabilizing power of the shadow.

Fromm: Being versus Having

Erich Fromm provides a parallel lens. In To Have or To Be?, he distinguishes between the having mode (possessing illusions, status, or false enlightenment) and the being mode, where authenticity is lived experientially. As Fromm notes, “If I am what I have and if what I have is lost, who then am I?” (Fromm, 1976, p. 109).

The moth clinging to the LED bulb epitomizes the having mode: mistaking technological glow for spiritual light. In contrast, the cricket on the persona’s foot and the bodily impulse to touch the nose embody the being mode: unmediated experience, presence, and spontaneity. The mamba’s coup represents liberation from the structures of possession and control, a radical move toward authenticity, even at the cost of inner stability.

Another possible interpretation of Salgado’s Haiku is through Fromm’s humanistic psychoanalysis lens. Through this type of analysis, the haiku emphasizes the tension between instinctual drives and human freedom. The moth clinging to the LED bulb can also illustrate what Fromm called “the fear of freedom”, the tendency to escape autonomy by attaching oneself to external certainties (Fromm, 1941). Fromm wrote that “Modern man still is anxious and tempted to surrender his freedom to dictators of all kinds, or to lose it by transforming himself into a small cog in the machine” (Fromm, 1941, p. 257). Through this idea the moth becomes a metaphor for this surrender, its attraction to artificial light reflecting humanity’s search for easy, yet blinding, certainties. Meanwhile, the cricket on the speaker’s foot signals a grounding in embodied presence, resisting alienation.

Lacan: Desire, the Symbolic, and Subversion

For Lacan, human desire is always caught in the networks of language and power (the Symbolic order). The moth clinging to artificial light parallels what Lacan calls the lure of the objet petit a, the unattainable object of desire that structures subjectivity. As Lacan states, “Man’s desire is the desire of the Other” (Lacan, 1977, p. 235). The moth desires a false Other: light as simulacrum of truth. The line “that urge to touch my nose” can be read through Lacan’s concept of desire as endless and disruptive. The seemingly trivial bodily urge echoes the intrusive force of unconscious desire, unbidden and irrational.

The cricket and the urge to touch the nose break through this symbolic mediation, grounding the subject in the body, the Real, which Lacan identifies as what resists symbolization. Finally, the mamba’s violent coup dramatizes what Lacan terms traversing the fantasy, the subject shattering the illusory structures of power. The crowned eagle, symbol of sovereign mastery, falls to the insurgent Real embodied in the snake.

From a different perspective, the coup d’état can be read as an eruption of the Real (that which resists symbolization). The black mamba’s violent act represents the Real breaking into the Symbolic order (the eagle’s rule). In Lacan’s words, “The Real is that which always comes back to the same place… the impossible” (Lacan, 1998, p. 66). Just as the coup dismantles hierarchy, the Real dismantles the subject’s illusions of mastery. Enlightenment in this Lacanian register is destabilizing, a forced recognition of desire and mortality rather than transcendence.

Integrating the Perspectives

We can read Salgado’s haiku as a triptych of psychic transformation:

Line/Image	Fromm	Jung	Lacan
Moon moth & LED bulb	Illusory enlightenment; having mode	Persona seeking false identity	False objet petit a; desire mediated by the Other
Cricket on foot; urge to touch	Spontaneous authenticity; being mode	Shadow irruption; instinct demanding integration	The Real breaking into Symbolic order
Black mamba deposes eagle	Rebellion against false authority	Shadow confronts and dethrones ego	Traversal of fantasy; collapse of sovereign illusion

Salgado’s poem stages an internal revolution: from external, deceptive illumination to embodied awareness, culminating in the confrontation with the forbidden self. The haiku, in its compressed form, is less about “enlightenment” as transcendence than as psychic reordering, dislodging authoritarian ego-configurations in favor of elemental, instinctual truth.

Conclusion

Salgado’s haiku stages the drama of human consciousness as it negotiates instinct, freedom, and unconscious forces. Through Fromm, it critiques modern attachments to false securities; through Jung, it dramatizes the eruption of the shadow; through Lacan, it exposes the instability of desire and the disruptive return of the Real. Enlightenment, then, is not a tranquil state but a precarious confrontation with what lies beneath and beyond reason.

📚 References

Fromm, E. (1941). Escape from Freedom. New York: Farrar & Rinehart.

Fromm, E. (1976). To Have or To Be? New York: Harper & Row.

Jung, C. G. (1959). Aion: Researches into the Phenomenology of the Self (Collected Works Vol. 9ii). Princeton University Press.

Jung, C. G. (1967/1981). The Collected Works of C. G. Jung, Vol. 7: Two Essays on Analytical Psychology. Princeton University Press.

Jung, C. G. (1968). The Archetypes and the Collective Unconscious (R. F. C. Hull, Trans., 2nd ed.). Princeton: Princeton University Press. (Original work published 1954)

Lacan, J. (1977). Écrits: A Selection (A. Sheridan, Trans.). New York: Norton.

Lacan, J. (1998). The Seminar of Jacques Lacan, Book XI: The Four Fundamental Concepts of Psychoanalysis (J.-A. Miller, Ed., A. Sheridan, Trans.). New York: Norton.

Discussion Questions for Students

Instructions: Read Salgado’s haiku carefully. Then, using the psychological frameworks discussed, reflect on the questions below. Prepare to justify your answers with references to both the text and the theorists.

1	False Light: a)    How does the image of the moon moth clinging to a LED bulb critique false source of enlightenment? b)    What might this imply about our contemporary quests for meaning? c)    How does the image of the moth clinging to the LED bulb relate to Fromm’s concept of “escape from freedom”?
2	Embodied Impulse: a)    The cricket and the urge to touch the nose introduce a shift from external to internal. How does this moment function psychologically in the poem, particularly in light of Fromm’s “being” mode? b)    Why might the cricket be interpreted as a grounding or humanizing symbol in the poem?
3	Shadow Dynamics: a)    Discuss the symbolic resonance of the black mamba overthrowing the crowned eagle. b)    What does this reveal about the struggle between conscious identity and suppressed instinct? c)    What does Jung mean when he says enlightenment requires confronting darkness, and how does this apply to the coup d’état image?
4	Persona vs. Authentic Self: a)    Using Fromm’s concept of authenticity, can the moth and the eagle be seen as representations of a persona? b)    If so, how does the poem suggest moving beyond these constructs? c)    In what ways does the black mamba function as a symbol of the Jungian shadow?
5	Individuation Journey: a)    Map the poem’s three segments onto Jung’s stages of individuation, shadow confrontation, anima/animus encounter, and emergence of the Self. b)    Which stages are most vividly represented, and why? c)    How does the crowned eagle represent conscious ideals or the ego-self in Jungian terms?
6	Animal Archetypes: a)    How do the cricket, moth, mamba, and eagle function as archetypal figures? What universal psychic energies might they embody? b)    What does the urge to touch the nose reveal about unconscious bodily desire in Lacanian theory?
7	Conflict and Integration: a)    Jung emphasizes that individuation involves conflict. Where is this conflict most evident in the poem, and how might it lead to integration or fragmentation? b)    In what sense does Lacan’s dictum “man’s desire is the desire of the Other” echo through the haiku?
8	Internal Coup: a)    What does the concept of disobedience add to the understanding of the poem’s final overture? b)    Is it necessarily destructive, or could it be regenerative? c)    How might the coup d’état be read as an eruption of the Lacanian Real?
9	Creative Application: a)    If you were to write a short poem or scene that represents your own internal coup, an overthrow of one psychic force by another, what symbols would you use and why? b)    Overall, does the poem present enlightenment as liberation, destabilization, or both? Defend your interpretation.

My Reflective Journaling: Literature Haiku Analysis (August 2025)

Psychology Reading of Enlightenment and Disruption

1. Erich Fromm: Being vs. Having Mode and the Urge to Transcend
	·        Fromm distinguishes between the "having" mode (possession, control) and the "being" mode (experience, presence, awareness). The haiku explores this contrast:
		·        The moth clinging to a bulb represents a misguided search for light or truth, a having approach to enlightenment, mistaking artificiality for spiritual illumination. ·        The urge to touch one's nose, triggered by a cricket on the foot, reveals a raw, embodied, and spontaneous self—being, not having. Fromm would see this as a symbol of authentic, present-moment awareness breaking through the static search for external meaning. ·        The coup d’état echoes Fromm’s concern with internal revolutions—the black mamba (representing instinct, danger) overthrows the crowned eagle (the ego ideal or rational self), suggesting a psychic reordering of values.
Key Insight: Fromm might read the poem as a psychospiritual journey away from the illusion of external enlightenment toward the liberation of primal being.
2. Jacques Lacan: Mirror Stage, Desire, and Symbolic Overthrow
	·        The moon moth and LED bulb might signify the Lacanian mirror stage, in which the subject misrecognizes its reflection (the false promise of “enlightenment”). The moth clings not to the moon, but to a technological surrogate—a symbolic Other that structures desire. ·        The cricket on the foot evokes an irruption of the Real—the unassimilable, bodily sensation that disrupts the symbolic structure. The urge to touch the nose points to the breakdown of the coherent subject. ·        The black mamba overthrowing the crowned eagle can be read as a symbolic revolution: the Real or drive (mamba) displaces the ego-ideal (eagle), a Lacanian coup d’état. It reflects a dethroning of the subject’s alignment with the Law of the Father (symbolic authority), returning instead to the unmediated drive.
Key Insight: For Lacan, the poem stages the fragmentation of the subject and the destabilization of symbolic authority—where jouissance (dangerous pleasure) overcomes rational control.
3. Carl Jung: Individuation, Archetypes, and Shadow Integration
	·        The moth and artificial light could represent the false self seeking enlightenment through illusions rather than inner transformation. The moth is drawn to a light that blinds, not enlightens—suggesting a persona attached to external forms. ·        The cricket on the foot stirs a bodily impulse—this can symbolize the awakening of the unconscious, a nudge from the anima or instinctual self prompting reconnection with the body and senses. ·        The final stanza represents the confrontation with the Shadow: the black mamba is a powerful, feared archetype (death, transformation), while the crowned eagle symbolizes the dominant ego or super-ego. The coup implies a vital moment in the individuation process, where the hidden, repressed forces of the psyche reclaim sovereignty.
Key Insight: Jung might interpret this haiku as depicting a dream-like psychic journey in which the individual confronts their Shadow, lets go of persona-based enlightenment, and enters a deeper phase of inner transformation.

 

Psychological Readings of Wilbert Salgado’s Haiku by Jonathan Acuña

In his haiku "bedside vigil / the child folds / a paper caladrius," Wilbert Salgado presents a poignant moment charged with the tension between the suffering of a child and his fragile hope for recovery. At the foot of semiotics bubbles up a spring of symbolic resonance that invites deep reading of this haiku text. Through the lens of semiotics—particularly Roland Barthes’ theory of signs and mythologies—this haiku can be interpreted as a structure of layered meanings, where cultural symbols such as the bedside vigil, the origami bird, and the child construct an intricate network of signifiers. These signs guide the reader in decoding not just a surface narrative but a more profound symbolic message. Still under the yoke of illness and helplessness, the child turns to creation as a quiet act of resistance. Rather than merely describing a tragic or fatal event, the haiku operates as a dynamic system of signs, encoding stark themes of fragility, faith, and the enduring human desire for transcendence. In this compact verse, a kind of maimed Semitic gospel takes shape—one bejeweled with mythical associations and deep emotional resonance, taking big strides into the heart of meaning itself.

Barthes’ concept of the "readerly" and "writerly" text becomes especially relevant when deciphering the rich, symbolic depth of this haiku. “Barthes used the terms lisible (‘readerly’) and scriptible (‘writerly’) to distinguish, respectively, between texts that are straightforward and demand no special effort to understand and those whose meaning is not immediately evident and demand some effort on the part of the reader” (Britannica, n.d.). Wilbert Salgado’s haiku is firmly situated in the latter category. Unlike a readerly text, which presents a linear and transparent narrative, this poem resists easy interpretation and instead demands active participation in meaning-making. It is a writerly text in every sense, “characterized by an emphasis on the elaborate use of language” (Britannica, n.d.), and more crucially, by a layered symbology that invites the reader to grapple with its nuanced challenges.

The phrase “bedside vigil” immediately denotes a stark image of distress and anticipation, often evoking scenes of loved ones keeping watch over the ill or dying. Yet in a semiotic reading, the vigil becomes far more than a moment of passive waiting. It morphs into a ritual space—a temporal limbo—where hope and dread intermingle, and time seems suspended. One might ask, what’s the endgame? Is the vigil an act of faith or a final farewell? According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, a vigil is “an event or a period of time when a person or group stays in a place and quietly waits, prays, etc.” (n.d.). But within the child’s experience, this act of waiting becomes something more visceral. It is a site of transformation, where the child—perhaps unconsciously—attempts to cast out demons of fear and grief through the creation of a paper caladrius.

This bird, folded in silence, speaks volumes. It may be lifeless in form, but symbolically, it’s charged with the hope of healing, with the idea that illness might be transferred, carried off, and effaced from the body. The works do bear witness of a child’s inner world—a world where imagination becomes a tool of survival. The paper caladrius rummaging through the air of the sickroom may never take flight, yet its presence testifies to the emotional labor, the faith, and the longing condensed into each crease. In this interpretation, the poem delivers a stern warning against reducing illness to sterile medical moments; instead, it elevates the emotional and spiritual undercurrents often overlooked or effaced from clinical narratives. Like sweatshops of feeling, haiku can compress entire universes of pain and transcendence into a few syllables. Salgado’s poem achieves just that.

The caladrius, a mythical bird believed to absorb illness and carry it away, operates in this haiku as a sign within a sign—a layered symbol that holds both cultural weight and personal significance. The child’s act of folding a paper caladrius transforms the poem into a mythological structure, where symbolic action intersects with emotional need. According to Barthes, myth naturalizes history—it renders cultural constructions as eternal, unquestioned truths. Yet, as Schwartz (2024) clarifies, “Rather than giving us timeless truths, [myths] give us evidence of what may be true in a particular time and place, but not in all times and places.” This distinction is essential for understanding how the caladrius functions not merely as an emblem of medieval healing but as a vessel for contemporary emotional projection.

In this context, the child’s gesture becomes more than a moment of imaginative play; it is a reenactment of an ancient belief in symbolic healing, repurposed in the fraught space of illness. The folding of the origami bird is both delicate and determined—a moment of agency in a situation otherwise marked by helplessness. As Divyadharshini and Thamayanthi (2022) explain, “Myths extant concepts that distort the truth and matter an illusory view of ‘Nature.’ Barthes contends that myths are often used to back a specific view of what should be measured as normal and natural.” Here, the child does not question the naturalness of the myth; instead, he lives within it, casting his hope into a symbol that promises relief.

From this perspective, Wilbert Salgado takes on the role of a mythologist in the Barthesian sense. He identifies and revives a cultural myth—the healing power of the caladrius—and re-presents it through poetic structure. His haiku deconstructs this myth by isolating its symbolic parts: the child, the paper bird, the bedside vigil. Then, through a stark reenactment of its meaning in a modern context, Salgado shows how myth is not static but continually reshaped by the emotional and cultural landscapes in which it reappears. The haiku becomes a subtle critique and reaffirmation of symbolic thinking—a mirror to the illusory certainties we often turn to when language, medicine, or logic fail us.

Barthes’ notion of the punctum—the element of a text or image that personally wounds or deeply moves the reader—emerges poignantly in the juxtaposition of the child and the paper bird in Wilbert Salgado’s haiku. Although Barthes originally developed the concept in relation to photography, punctum refers more broadly to what he “defined as the sensory, intensely subjective effect of a photograph on the viewer: ‘The punctum of a photograph is that accident which pricks me (but also bruises me, is poignant to me)’” (Smolik, 2014). Transposed into a poetic context, Wilbert’s punctum lies in the quiet tension between childhood innocence and the stark reality of illness. This tension generates a deeply affective response. The fragility of the folded paper bird becomes an emblem of life’s own vulnerability, while the child’s act of folding reflects a human instinct to cast meaning into suffering—to create form out of chaos.

This contrast is not merely visual; it is semiotically rich. The gesture of folding is small and quiet, yet symbolically monumental. It becomes a subtle but powerful enactment of resistance—a fragile hand attempting to hold together what is falling apart. The works do bear witness of an emotional reality: in moments where language fails or adults falter, the child turns to creation. As Media Studies (n.d.) affirms, “the punctum is a ‘higher value’ added to the photograph by the observer. It is the direct and powerful relationship between the observer and a particular signifier in the image.” If we extend this to haiku, the punctum in Salgado’s scene is not imposed by the poet but invited by the reader, who is moved by the singular moment of a child folding a paper caladrius.

Contemplating Wilbert’s depiction as if viewing a still photograph, the reader is compelled to explore the layers of meaning embedded in this delicate act. The folded bird becomes more than origami—it embodies hope, grief, and spiritual yearning. It reflects not only the child’s hope for recovery but also a cultural longing to cast out demons of despair through symbolic gestures. In a world still under the yoke of uncertainty and helplessness in the face of illness, this tiny figure at the bedside encapsulates both the pain and the persistence of belief. Thus, what initially seems like a simple poetic image becomes, through the lens of punctum, a haunting and unforgettable visual charged with quiet desperation and enduring hope.

Ultimately, Salgado’s haiku, viewed through Barthes’ semiotic framework, transcends its brief form to function as a mythopoetic text—a literary structure in which symbols operate far beyond their immediate or literal meanings. As explained by Oxford Reference (n.d.), a mythopoetic text is “A form of literature that has the structure, look and feel of a myth, but is in fact a contemporary creation rather than a story passed down by tradition.” This conceptualization is especially relevant when considering the caladrius myth, which—though rooted in medieval lore—has here been reshaped, even rummaging through modern sensibilities, into an origami creation folded by a child in distress. One might ask, How long has the caladrius myth been around but distorted into an origami creation? The answer lies not in chronology but in cultural adaptation: the transformation of myth to meet the emotional and symbolic needs of the present.

In this haiku, the bedside vigil, the child, and the caladrius do not function in isolation. They intertwine in a dynamic cultural narrative of faith, vulnerability, and endurance, revealing how deeply embedded myths—whether distorted or preserved—continue to shape human expression. The child, still under the yoke of suffering, engages in a quiet symbolic act that echoes timeless mythic patterns. Despite the advances of science and the shifting paradigms of modernity, the human impulse to create signs of hope remains—testifying to our need for meaning in the face of existential uncertainty.

The haiku thus does not merely depict a moment; it encodes a universal myth of healing, one in which language, symbolism, and belief converge in a concentrated poetic gesture. It is a brief text that performs big strides in its symbolic reach. As Porter (2023) insightfully notes, “Mythology acts as a reflection of humanity, a connection of personhood and storytelling that spans through history.” Salgado’s poetic vision resonates with this insight, offering readers not only an image but a bejeweled fragment of a maimed Semitic gospel, reframed through the delicate hands of a child. In doing so, his haiku embodies the mythopoetic spirit—a form where ancient belief, modern vulnerability, and literary precision meet.

Toying with the myth behind the caladrius and the symbolic depiction Wilbert creates in his haiku, I composed a kind of “response”—an attempt to view this photo punctum from a slightly different angle:

Though I am not a poet, nor do I pretend to be a haiku creator like my friend Wilbert Salgado, I offer this response as an amateur literary critic seeking to reinforce the mythological reading of his haiku. The phrase “poised for healing flight” intentionally echoes the medieval belief that if a caladrius flew away from the ailing individual, it signaled impending recovery; if not, the person was doomed. This stark dichotomy between life and death is embedded within the symbolic framework of the bird. Furthermore, the imagery “night bends toward the dawn” aligns with Barthes’ view of myth as a form of ideological reassurance, where cultural symbols provide comfort amid uncertainty. In this metaphorical shift from darkness (illness, despair) to light (healing, renewal), the myth is not merely invoked but activated—serving as a narrative bridge between suffering and salvation.

What I found most compelling in Wilbert’s poem is the way he compels the reader to recognize the caladrius not as a generic bird but as a bejeweled symbol, carefully folded through the ancient art of origami. It is in this transformation that the punctum emerges—not from the bird itself, but from the act of folding, the presence of the child, and the quiet vigilance beside the bed. Whether the child is the one suffering or stands in vigil for a loved one, each element—the origami bird, the vigil, the bed, the surrounding night—becomes a signifier within a wider semiotic web. These are not simply descriptive parts of a scene but symbolic articulations of faith, fear, and hope. Wilbert’s haiku does not merely gesture toward meaning—it invites a rummaging through layers of signification, drawing the reader into a mythopoetic experience where the line between cultural memory and personal grief is delicately blurred. It is a poetic piece that stands out on its own, not only as a narrative of illness but as a semiotic landscape where myth and modernity converge.

In conclusion, Wilbert Salgado’s haiku operates as more than a poetic snapshot of illness and innocence—it becomes a site of semiotic excavation, where ancient myth, contemporary emotion, and symbolic action coalesce. Through Barthes’ framework, we have seen how the haiku not only constructs a layered system of signs but also resurrects a mythopoetic logic in a modern form. The caladrius, reimagined through origami, emerges as both a cultural artifact and a personal prayer, drawing the reader into a dialogue between tradition and reinterpretation. The haiku’s punctum—that subtle, piercing detail that resonates—rests in the tension between suffering and symbolic resistance, and its meaning, like the folded bird itself, remains delicate yet enduring. By responding with a haiku of my own, I sought not to match Salgado’s craft but to explore how myth invites response, and how poetic fragments can still reflect the broader nuanced challenges of meaning, memory, and healing. In doing so, we affirm that the works do bear witness to a world still seeking language for loss—and finding it, at times, in the quiet folds of verse.

📚 References

Britannica. (n.d.). readerly and writerly. Retrieved from Britannica.Com: https://www.britannica.com/art/readerly

Divyadharshini, R., & Thamayanthi, P. (2022). Myths Credence: Barthes Vs People In Mythologies By Roland Barthes. Journal of Positive School Psychology, 1630-1634.

Media Studies. (n.d.). Studium and Punctum. Retrieved from Media Studies: https://media-studies.com/studium-and-punctum/

Merriam-Webster Dictionary. (n.d.). vigil. Retrieved from Merriam-Webster Dictionary: https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/vigil#:~:text=also%20:%20a%20period%20of%20wakefulness,kept%20vigil%20at%20her%20bedside

Oxford Reference. (n.d.). mythopoeic. Retrieved from Oxford Reference: https://www.oxfordreference.com/display/10.1093/oi/authority.20110803100220550#:~:text=A%20form%20of%20literature%20that%20has%20the,than%20a%20story%20passed%20down%20by%20tradition.&text=As%20Richard%20Slotkin%20demonstrates%20in%20a%20powerful,nation%2

Porter, A. (2023). Both Human and Holy: A Veneration of Personhood Through Mythic Means. MFA in Visual Arts Theses(19).

Schwarts, B. (2024, August 22). Social Science, Ideology, Culture, & History. Retrieved from Behavioral Scientist: https://behavioralscientist.org/social-science-ideology-culture-history/#:~:text=Rather%20than%20giving%20us%20timeless%20truths%2C%20they,but%20not%20in%20all%20times%20and%20places.&text=Rather%20than%20giving%20us%20timeless%20truths%2C%20the,but%20not

Smolik, N. (2014, November14). ‘Punctum. Reflections on Photography’ Brings Barthes to the Digital Age. Frieze(17). Retrieved from https://www.frieze.com/article/punctum-reflections-photography-2014-review#:~:text=But%20what%20was%20unique%20to,%2C%20is%20poignant%20to%20me).

Questions for Further Exploration

Instructions: Discuss the following questions in small groups or write reflective responses that integrate literary theory, personal interpretation, or close reading of similar texts.

1.    How does the myth of the caladrius enhance the emotional and symbolic depth of Salgado's haiku?

2.    What is the role of silence or minimalism in constructing meaning within haiku poetry?

3.    How does Barthes’ concept of punctum apply beyond photography and enrich literary analysis?

4.    In what ways can a writerly text like Salgado’s haiku invite reinterpretation across cultural or historical contexts?

5.    How does origami function as a symbolic act in the poem? Can it be considered a form of narrative or ritual?

6.    What is the significance of the child’s perspective in the haiku? How might it affect the reader’s emotional engagement?

7.    How does the interplay of fragility and strength operate in mythopoetic texts?

8.    What cultural or religious parallels exist between the caladrius and other mythical or sacred healing symbols?

9.    How does the juxtaposition of ancient myth and modern illness underscore the universality of human suffering and hope?

Topics for Literary Critics to Develop Further

Instructions: Choose one topic and develop it into an academic paper or article, incorporating theoretical frameworks and literary examples.

1.    Haiku as Mythopoetic Form in Contemporary Literature
Explore how haiku has evolved to encode myth in modern poetic expression.

2.    The Semiotics of Origami in Narrative Poetry
Investigate paper-folding as a metaphor and signifier in world literature.

3.    Barthes’ Punctum in Micro-Poetics: A Case Study Approach
Analyze how punctum appears in minimalist poetry forms, including haiku, senryu, or flash fiction.

4.    Rewriting the Sacred: Myth and Healing in Minimalist Verse
Compare mythical symbols like the caladrius in poems that deal with illness, death, and faith.

5.    The Role of Children as Symbolic Catalysts in Poetic Imagery
Examine how child figures function within poetic symbolism and myth-making.

6.    Fragility and Form: The Semiotics of Delicacy in Contemporary Poetics
Discuss how formal delicacy (syllable constraints, sparse images) conveys deep psychological and cultural meanings.

The Semiotics of Hope and Despair in Wilbert Salgado by Jonathan Acuña