to count or not to count

In my haiku study I'm learning that Japanese haiku is not structured with 3 lines of 17 syllables, 5-7-5, but instead counts "sound units," which are shorter and more regular than English syllables.

A recently published essay by Toshio Kimura called "A New Era for Haiku"  handily summarizes the essence of haiku, which lies in these characteristics: shortness, a fixed form of some kind, humor (which surprised me), "haikuness," and "kire" or cutting, which results in the juxtaposition of two or three images.  It also explores the deep cultural traditions of haiku in Japan and the changing ways of reading and writing it around the world.

It looks like most writers (in Japanese and English) continue to use a three-line form with lines of unmeasured length, but the overall shape tends to remain short-long-short.  Many writers also continue to include "kigo" or season words and nature themes, but not all.  Here is one from the essayist himself:

returned--
just bending the head
as a flower

And here's one of my attempts from this past week, watching Duncan and his friend in the ocean at Rehoboth.

****************

busting waves
again and again deliciously
they break me

****************
I think I'll need to go back this week and look at that one with my new reading in mind--does it have haikuness?  does it break my rules or follow them?  What are my haiku rules anyway?  And is it true that publishers for children are going to want only haiku that follow the 5-7-5 pattern?

In the meantime, please surf on over to Buffy's Blog for the Poetry Friday roundup, and I look forward to hosting you all next week for the Independence Day edition of Poetry Friday!

haiku summer

Well, hello.  Long time no see...a VERY long time, and the glorious feeling of finally being on summer break (which really only came over me fully yesterday) is so consuming that I actually FORGOT that it was not just Friday but Poetry Friday until just now, as I was studying the Bare Bones School of Haiku, Lesson 6.

I found my way to these extremely helpful lessons via Robyn Hood Black's blog, where I knew I would find good resources.  Until Wednesday, I didn't know I would need them, but the moment I began entertaining the notion of a poem-a-day project this summer, a poem aspiring to be a haiku popped out.  I've known for a while that I was still laboring under the 5-7-5 oversimplified haiku form that I learned as a 3rd-grader, but I hadn't had a chance to learn a more authentic approach to haiku in English. 

Now I have the chance, and by Jane Reichold's Lesson 5 I was able to improve my initial Wednesday effort, and so I offer this welcome to my Haiku Summer (even as I begin a third major revision to my WIP).

yellow plastic frying pan
in the pool
the water sizzles

I'm also delighted to be participating this year in Tabatha's Summer Poem Swap. I received a doubly well-crafted spirit animal poem from Irene Latham, and I sent a double acrostic to close out the school year  to my first partner, fellow teacher Linda Baie.  What fun to get and send real mail!

                                        
                              <poem removed for submission>

Thanks for visiting my juicy little universe today.  Find more summer poetry goodness with Jone at Check It Out!

npm travel journal 25: kensington, md

Yes, indeed--to celebrate National Poetry Monday today, we are stepping into my very own classroom here in Montgomery County, MD! This month the Mighty Minnows have once again considered the question What Do Poets Do?  They learned that

1) Poets choose to write about one small thing.
2) Poets choose words that sound good together.
3) Poets choose where to put their words.
4) Poets create strong feelings.

Then the Minnows tried doing some of those things themselves.  Without further ado, here is the work of my 17 kindergarteners (signed with their aliases)....

The Sky

the sky is a

beautiful land

a star in a

sky at night

and we

can see a moon

by Ananda

My Family

I love my family

They love me too

My mom cooks for me

My dad helps me do

my homework

I like my mom

and dad because

they love me

too!

by Julee

                                                Hello Buffalo

 

Can I ride 

on you? 

What do you

sound like?

Moooooooo!

by Brendan

My Sisters

my sisters

play with me

blocks

dolls

fairies

bikes

my sisters

play with me

by Kailee

 The Sun

                                                When the sun wakes

up it sprinkles

upon my flowers!

byJunius

Tuna Mouth

This tuna

was in a war with

three naughty tunas.

This tuna won!

by Jaiden

My Family

My daddy is a clown

My mommy is a butterfly

My sister is a flower

My brother is a playground

My self is a blanket

My cat is a dog!

by Nellie

Transformer Cars Two trillion           2,000,000,000,000  transformer cars  Giant transformers  have guns  They fight the  bad guys!  by Antonio

My Mommy

I love my mommy

I love my family

too.  But no one

is better

than you!

by Julio

My Family

my mom is a rose

my daddy

is a button

I am a flower

by Valoria

                                                I Like the Sun

                                                the sun shines

so bright

can I go

outside to-

night?

by Nate

The Turtle with Eggs

the turtle walks

so slow.

eggs of

the turtle.

by Wilmer

The World

I like the world

the world has lots

of things     it has

flowers and trees and

lots of clouds    I like

the world    do you

like it too

by Jazmyn

              Skylanders

  Skylanders is a

  video game 

  I play  it a lot

  I make the Skylanders

  move

  I make them fight the

  bad guys

  It’s exciting when I win!

  by Alex Andrew

                                               Rides

We go on rides

I like rides that go

up and down

I like rides that go

around

I go with my mommy 

                                              and with my daddy

                                              by Leeah

Green Water

the green water

is going to explode

nobody is going

to jump in

the water has to get cooked

then we can pour the water in

by Robbie

Colors

I color a snowman

I color a flower

I color a rainbow

I color a leaf

by Sofie

                                                   
As always, my favorite thing about these is that each child had an idea, something to say in a poem and an idea of how to say it best. Enjoy more National Poetry Month goodness today at The Opposite of Indifference with Tabatha!