|
Haiku by Patricia Simko
Relaxing inward
Things open: heart will mind
Don’t go back to sleep
•
The search here fruitless
I sink beneath the surface
You can't find me there
•
Are you really fine
They want to know they doubt me
I pause then say yes
•
True nature they say
Is displayed in many ways
I’ll settle for one
•
Behold I’m precious
For awhile Dad I forgot
You don’t matter now
•
I’ve been a good girl
I modeled myself on you
Girl in wolf’s clothing
•
Now she has it all
Her father shows her the way
Mother informs love
•
The search here fruitless
I sink beneath the surface
You can't find me there
•
WTC
Sunlight, late summer
On a post her photo stands
Attacked Disbelief prevails
•
We thought it was fine
We thought we had it made
Fiercely the ground trembles
•
Strange horrendous days
The pigeons already gone
Smoke unyielding, thick
•
Who's to know our fate
Perhaps I'll see you again
Or then, the sky may fall
•
She was a wonder
Vital, free ... the best part of me
Life is here, then gone
•
How can I know why
Reason does not touch my heart
Love alone matters
•
Sometimes I wonder
How to hold this precious life
A sigh, a flame, grace
•
At any moment
Life can be snatched from our hands
Come give me a kiss
•
One two three four five
Did you make it out alive
This is no time for rhymes.
•
One two buckle my shoe
Three four five six seven eight
Nine ten kaboom
•
One person’s terrorist
Is another’s freedom fighter
Go figure
•
IRELAND
Strange yet familiar
Is it foreign is it home
Lady scowls gent winks
•
Greenhill to greenhill to greenhill
•
1/2 a pint I say
Having learned how to order
I drink sissy beer
•
Your Dad is from here
Mother, did you know, or care
Do you hear me now
•
•
Am I good enough
We ask incessantly
Like beetles gnawing
•
Much more than 2 sides
You are a crystal you know
Facets gleam in light
•
When I look at you
The brilliance of your crystal
Startles, stuns my eyes
•
Did I fail you then
Fail to see your complex self
Horrors! rain falling
•
Art is all the same
A collage is a haiku
Is a piece of pie
|
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
|
|
Collage Page
2001, 2002, 2003©
Haiku is a small poetry with oriental
metric that appeared in the XVI century and is being very popular mainly
in Japan. It's been disseminating in all around the world during this
century. It have an old and long story that reminds the spiritualist philosophy
and the Taoist symbolism of the oriental mystics and Zen-Buddhist masters
who express much of their thoughts in form of myths, symbols, paradoxes
and poetic images like the Haiku. It's done to transcend the limitation
imposed by the usual language and the linear/scientific thinking that
treat the nature and the human being as a machine.
It's a contemplative poetry that valorizes
nature, color, season, contrasts and surprises. Usually it has 3 lines
and 17 syllables distributed in 5, 7 and 5. It must register or indicate
a moment, sensation, impression or drama of a specific fact of nature.
It's almost like a photo of some specific moment of nature.
More than inspiration, it's need meditation, effort and perception to
compose a real Haiku.
Some tips on writing Haiku are as follows:
Try to keep your words at a minimum. Lines
like "A dark and stormy night" would be considered redundant
as 'dark' and 'night' are almost synonymous.
It must be able to
capture a specific moment of time. This is much like capturing
an image the way photographs do. Just imagine what you want to say in
your poem, then focus on it.
Haiku traditionally
deal with nature. Trees, flowers, mountains, seas, and the like
are the most common subjects. However, some people make use of other everyday
things too, like, sports, toys, food, and fashion.
Emotional elements
should be included in your haiku. But, you must avoid simply saying
how you feel. Lines like: "It's raining and I feel sad" does
not give the best impact on your poem. It may be better to write: "There
are rain drops in my eyes."
Try to use the present
tense. Whenever you use the present
tense, you involve your reader with a sense of 'right here, right now,'
which makes your poem more effective.
You can allow
some flexibility in the 5-7-5 syllable pattern. Since English and
Japanese are two different languages, it is generally accepted to try
other syllable patterns like 4-6-4 and 3-5-3.
Links:
This one is fun, type in a subject:
Haiku of Kobayashi Issa
(1763-1827) left thousands of one-breath masterpieces .
The three most famous Japanese Haiku poets
are Basho, Buson, and Issa. You can read some of their work (in Japanese
and translated English) at Traditional
Japanese Haiku.
|