Before you proceed to the following yemiblalu and yemiTaTamu pages, some quick definitions:

Haiku - a Japanese art form where a "poem" is composed of exactly seventeen syllables divided into three lines; the first line having five syllables, the second - seven, and the last one five.

qnE - an Ethiopian art form where double meaning is encapsulated in the same verse. The obvious meaning, called the "Wax" hides the real meaning. A key word or phrase, is "melted" away to reveal the true meaning of the whole verse, called the "Gold." True qnE is not just double-entendre, nor a witty word or phrase. Th key word must be applicable for both meaning ofthe whole qnE.

Bored? Don't be.

The Haiku here are all written in amarNa. The qnE are all in English.

Indegmewalen.

The haiku here are all written in amarNa. The qnE are all in English.

Pause on each Haiku. (Heck, you can count the syllables if you want, but we made sure to hire a Haiku composer with at least seven fingers.) Let your mind complete the mental picture sketched. The beauty of a haiku is it's austerity. Less is very much more. To get the full effect of a haiku, Seleda recommends that you write your own. In amarNa. We guarantee the experience will tell you why the Japanese have Shintoism as a religion. Then go to the nearest Japanese restaurant, order sake on us, and then compare the architecture and internal decoration to that of the last Chinese restaurant you went to. Austere. Less is More. 'Nuff Said.

We do not agree with the wag who said:
abew sitertu
ye qnE wbetu
"inscrutable"netu
not least because we cannot imaging that in abew times, Ethiopians went around saying words like "inscrutable" when they had phrases like "andebetertu'I".

Nevertheless, pause on the qnE. Look around you to make sure you are alone, and then read them aloud. LISTEN, don't just read. Original g'Iz qnE was a spoken art form, so go back to it's roots. Don't get hung up on the English spelling. When you understand both meanings, press the icon at the bottom menu that says "SUBMIT COMMENTS" and let us know. We shall unmask you as a master "qeyani" in next month's issue.

We ask that you not bother your holiday stupor induced minds with such weighty questions as whether structure and method are themselves art, whether all literary traditions can easily cross any and all language barriers, whether Ethiopian society is as well reflected in the qnE art form as the Japanese seems to be in its Haiku. And please, do not try to imagine a conversation between a Haiku master beseeching his Ethiopian guest to be open to wonder and awe, while the old qnE master keeps insisting that there is yet more meaning to be mined.

Don't, aderachihun. Just enjoy. And let us know.