haiku

HAIKU

n., pl., haiku, also -kus.
A Japanese lyric verse form having three unrhymed lines of five, seven, and five syllables, traditionally invoking an aspect of nature or the seasons.
A poem written in this form.


When I was student teaching my 7th Grade class at the Clinton School for Writers and Artists in Chelsea two years (!) ago, we had such fun with the poetry unit of our Reading/Writing Workshop; one of the poetic forms, though, that the kids and I both had the most fun with, especially on the writing side was HAIKU-- and I think this is true in many creative writing circles in which poetry is the focus-- these little snapshot poems are so fun in their sense of quick spontaneity, their ability to slice a little sliver of a moment and crystallize it in a rainbowing, sunshine-catching prism of multiple dimensions....and at the same time, they are challenging for this very reason as well! How does one choose that PRECISELY PERFECT word, that syllable that contains within it all of these hues and textures to capture an experience????

Well, my POEM OF THE DAY selection today, the first of my blog-ness :), continues my theme of "poetry about poetry" and in a clever and quite cute (if I can say so!) way, illustrates just how I for one read and write HAIKU...


SEVEN

FIVE

SEVEN

!


So here is today's piece:


Art of the Haiku

by Irving Feldman

His finger then, now yours
here, where master stopped, went back,
counted syllables.




I've figured out that the trick to writing a haiku is, for a long-winded person inclined to the overuse of adjectives and an excessive employment of adverbial phrases: "put whatever you can't fit into the ridiculously rigid (grrrr) 7-5-7 into the TITLE!" ;) So here is a HAIKU I composed in my head during Hot Yoga this morning...


AHEM!

conquering and exalting in Natarajasana (not-ah-raj-AHS-anna)~dancer's pose

raining sweat, rise fierce above
clouds of distraction
defy gravity of mind!




[this is me at a waterfall in a hidden oasis in the anzo borrego desert-- what better place to practice yoga than here!?! or to create poetry, for that matter!]

And just to close this for now, another little one of my favorite haiku; slightly irreverent, but endearingly honest! :)

[all the time I pray to Buddha]by Kobayashi Issa

Kobayashi Issa
All the time I pray to Buddha
I keep on
killing mosquitoes.

[we all stray from that 8 limbed path to enlightenment sometimes!]

WARNING: Haiku writing is a bit of an addicting practice; once one begins finding these little gems in each sight, each smell, each sound and taste and texture, beating out a rhythm of 7-5-7, one may begin speaking only in these syllabic combinations! One wouldn't this be slightly wonderful???