I recently heard a piece on NPR postulating that haiku is the new light verse. At first I was reticent. Haiku, when done well, is beautiful, and I would hate to demean a form that boasts such beauty and tradition. But here are a few New Hampshire haiku, some attempts to compress my experiences in the granite state into a few moments.
In the shop, we are
silent, even when the power
tools don't drown us out.
New Hampshire, with lawns
from Oklahoma; with Phil-
-adelphia's air.
From the shop to the
house, we brush flies and sawdust
with the same motions.
Anyone else with moments of their life to share in a 17-syllable poem, often featuring nature imagery, condensing a feeling into a brief moment?
7 comments:
Phil-adelphia? So cheating. You should try Tankas too: 5 7 5 7 7. You can try writing multiple endings (the 7 7) for a given 5 7 5.
There's no rule (in my knowledge)
constraining lines to whole words.
(there's your 7 7, Erik Smith. BAM!)
Our peaceful mornings
Interrupted by buzzing
I swat uselessly
Seriously, guys
We've been invaded by gnats
I could use some help
Sizzling outside
on a grill, the patty cooks.
My breath smells like cheese
Hiding under the
table with smells of rawhide,
the dog chews my shoe.
Now THAT's what I call a haiku!
But where's the optional 14-syllable ending stanza?
your face, empty stares
and the earth's callous orbit
all around our eyes
this is what i see
when i look to the outside
and wish i stayed in
Actually, we had an assignment to write haikus back in high school AP English, and one of my friends didn't care at all by that point because she was into college already, and I still remember the one she turned in:
"When I was a girl
I was eaten by a whale
I said, 'f*** you, whale!'"
No need to censor yourself (or your friend). This is a free speech blog.
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