Hello Everyone
Just found this thread (thanks for the heads up Croix). I realise you have all gone past Haiku poetry but I wanted to add my jot. I love writing Haiku poetry. This is a description of what makes a Haiku and how to write.
Haiku
Haiku, Japanese verse that is
traditionally composed of seventeen syllables in three lines - the shortest
form of poetry in the world (5/7/5).
Haiku seeks, in a handful of
words, to crystallize an instant in all its fullness, encouraging through the
experience of the moment the union of the reader with all existence.
The reader sidesteps
conventional perception, startled into a momentary but full understanding of
the poet's experience. By locking poet
and reader into the same reality, haiku helps us to perceive the ultimate unity
of all realities. Haiku transforms the most mundane of moments into something
special.
Haiku requires the personal involvement of the
reader. The haiku poet, knowing that words are not enough to capture the
fullness of any moment, inscribes a partial idea that leaves an all-important
space for the reader to fill in. As you question what the poet has omitted, the poem
comes alive through your own memories and feelings.
Here are a couple of my efforts.
The red bottlebrush
Flames in grey green foliage.
My heart is pierced.
The sun is hiding
But its warmth can still reach me.
The full light would burn.
Will you come with me
To join me while I journey?
To find the way home.
On white winter rock,
Gecko basks in warm delight,
Head up hails the
sun.
Satisfying to write but not easy. Getting the correct number of syllables in each line means trying words both for length and to find, as much as possible, the full meaning of what I am trying to say. Sometimes I am unsure what I want to express and feel I am groping in the dark.
It doesn't matter about the language. Follow the rules in your own language, the one that is understood by your own family and friends plus your surrounding environment. If no one speaks Japanese then why try to write for that language. It's a personal expression of sight/feeling/awareness.
Mary