What are those rules? I often turn to my friend Robyn Hood Black for haiku inspiration, because
empty window
the last of her fur
in the lint trap
©Robyn Hood Black
Frogpond 40:3, Autumn 2017
which just goes to show you don't even need 5-7-5, but today I'm reviewing a bit of guidance from The Academy of American Poets:
Among the greatest traditional haiku poets are Basho, Yosa Buson, Kobayashi Issa, and Masaoka Shiki. Modern poets interested in the form include Robert Hass, Paul Muldoon, and Anselm Hollo, whose poem “5 & 7 & 5” includes the following stanza:
round lumps of cells grow
up to love porridge later
become The Supremes [my goodness, how I love this]
Haiku was traditionally written in the present tense and focused on associations between images. There was a pause at the end of the first or second line, and a “season word," or kigo, specified the time of year.
As the form has evolved, many of these rules—including the 5/7/5 practice—have been routinely broken. However, the philosophy of haiku has been preserved: the focus on a brief moment in time; a use of provocative, colorful images; an ability to be read in one breath; and a sense of sudden enlightenment and illumination.
As you'll see in my week's work, each of my haiku has one or two of the traditional elements, but I don't think any one has all of them.
Dec. 8
is this a place where
only those survive who are
extraordinary?
Dec. 9
dead brown living green
hanging somewhere in between
wise bud of waiting
Dec. 10
single string of
tiny lights twines up trunk
strives at crescent moon
Dec. 11
full-on sweat-soaked battle
scrambling bodies slap the mat
purity of wrestling
Dec. 12
arthroscopy:
two holes show hidden joins
present hearts, everyone
Here are two where I try to get at all the markers of classic haiku. Let's see if it makes a difference....
Dec. 13
still a week to go
weary feet make for the car
frozen lawn sparkles
Dec. 14
lot full of tiny trees
our car the polar opposite
of Grinch's sleigh
Okay, ONE where I try to get all the markers! Yep, the self-discipline is definitely a little flabby. I'm sure the round-up this week will be toned and taut over at Laura Shovan's blog, where she's featuring a book by a mutual friend of ours from Maryland, Jona Colson. Wishing you all more merry, more bright.
