Futami friends, farewell –
Clam torn from shell,
I follow autumn.
Pg. 35, Lips too Chilled
Interpretation 1
Very heavy emotional feeling. Firstly, the overall feeling of ultimate displacement. Clam torn from shell, they stick to their shells very well..it takes a lot of effort to rip them, let alone open up to get inside. This phrase really pins the feeling of Basho being forcefully cast from comfort.
Where is he being ripped from? Futami, one translation of it, is an adjective that describes something forked, like a split road or path, a cross roads maybe. So Basho is thinking like, forked path friends, or pals he’s at a cross roads with, a separation of friendship really. Doesn’t seem to be due to personal conflict, more like friends drifting in different directions due to life circumstances. There are no heavy feelings of anger, rather a wistful parting and ripple of nostalgia.
The final line about following autumn makes the assumption he is nearing autumn. It’s probably late August. The word follow implies a moving forward, moving on, overcoming an emotional obstacle type of scene.
Despite being severely severed from his ancient amigos in a butcherish kind of way, Basho walks towards the future bringing with him dejection, longing for the past, and bittersweet farewells to a time once passed.
Interpretation 2:
Interestingly enough, according to Wikipedia, Futami was the name of 2 towns that became absorbed into a larger town in the early 2000’s. Obviously Basho lived and wrote his Haiku way before this happened, but the dissolving of a town is a reason to feel like a clam torn from its shell. So futami could be an adjective to describe a divided path and needing to make a choice forward, or it could literally be the name of a town, and Basho is referring to his friends as being from that town. It would be like me saying, “West Chester Friends”. Basho is addressing his friends that way. He must leave his home town and he is regretful about losing his pals.
More generally, this poem could be about anybody having to leave their home town and friends behind. And trying to make peace with the parting friends of the past.
Could be that it is a coming of age story and a young boy leaves his town to become an adult.
Could just be Basho stayed a while at some town during his wanders and is now exiting.
Regardless, the last 2/3 of the poem remain the same with feelings.
Side notes:
*The second line about the clam, ocean reference yea? Further implication of poem being set in summer/autumn transition and suggests a sea side, port town, or ocean type of town, taking place in maybe a backwater town on the coast, not a big bustling city.
*And if it DOES take place in a backwater seaside town, then it absolutely rings true about a person leaving behind their town and their old friends. What is the reason for the person’s leaving? If it were a modern day poem – hick town country boy/girl did well in school and got a city slicker high class job? Is that why they’re leaving their Futami Friends? Are they leaving because they got drafted to the military? This is very likely, since those sorts of things happening a lot back in the time period this was written (I’m assuming). In this way, the poem is timeless.
*On second thought, if the metaphor is a clam being ripped from its shell, it’s likely the reason for the person leaving the town is involuntary, like a war draft. Most definitely, this is it. A beautiful nature infused poem about the dread of being drafted to war by the government.
*Also the person is likening himself to a clam because there was no chance of dodging that bullet. Clams can’t move quickly like by running.
*This poem is basically the reverse of “Dodged THAT bullet!!”
*Goddamn, “following autumn” well autumn is considered the seasons of DEATH…FALL, things are dying and going towards winter. So I think it is a poem about being drafted to war. The person is being taken from their home and forced into a situation that likely leads to death and dying.
