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WRITING HAIKU

Posted on September 22, 2013 by writ7707 Posted in Writing Haiku, Writing Muse, Writing what you mean, Writing What You See 7 Comments

A WRITING BLOG About Playing Around with a Story Line in Different Literary Genres and Different Literary Categories

Writing Leap #29

Writing Haiku

Hi Writers,

Haiku is magic.  An ancient form of Japanese poetry it lasers into the heart of an experience in seventeen syllables arranged in three lines in a 5-7-5 order.   Some Haiku poets in English take liberties with this structure.   Not Billy Collins, former U.S. Poet Laureate.  “I want the indifference and the inflexibiliy of a seventeen-syllable limit to balance my self-expressive yearnings.”  Here is Billy Collins.

The dog stops to sniff

                                                              the poems of others

                                                              before she recites her own

Dag Hammarskjold ignores tradition.

In the castle’s shadow

                                                             the flowers closed

                                                             long before evening

Either way writing the haiku is the ultimate practice in taking a huge, multilayered feeling or observation and finding the simple, deep heartbeat.  

So go ahead writers!  Poets, fiction writers, non-fiction writers.  Practicing Haiku is a magic little secret to writing what you mean.  It will spill over and clarify your writing voice in all genres.   I promise.  Try it over and over until your poem gives you the innermost seed that evokes so much more.  The form itself edits the writing.

Haiku often has references to the natural world juxtaposed with other thoughts.  The story line is:  Observing Nature

Here is my attempt.  Very non-traditional.

Rosy wedding sunset

illuminating the love in his song

for his son and new bride.

I heard the music of his soul.

(The additional fourth line may eliminate my poem as Haiku.  Not sure.)

Happy Haiku everyone,

Autograph

LINKING THE ARTS

A Wonderful Book

Haiku in English: The First Hundred Years.  Edited by J. Kacian, P. Rowland, A. Burns, 2013.

With his delightful touch Billy Collins’ introduction opens up the world of Haiku.

A Lovely Word  

Essence

as in the very marrow of things.

Paintings by Georges Rouault,  French Expressionist 1871-1958

Maxim Bugzester, Polish/Viennese Expressionist  1908-1978,  said of Rouault, “He was able to paint the picture of a rose with three brush strokes.”

display_image.php1338370039_large-image_georges_rouault_pirrot_c1937_2019_oil_painting_large11405074_1

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7 thoughts on “WRITING HAIKU”

  1. Bob says:
    September 23, 2013 at 12:16 am

    Cynthia, my dear-
    You, who writes like a dancer
    Shares like a lover

    Reply
  2. Cynthia Magriel Wetzler says:
    September 23, 2013 at 3:57 pm

    Bob, I’m overwhelmed. What lovely thoughts from one writer to another. I’m so grateful for your beautiful haiku. Cynthia

    Reply
    • Bob says:
      September 23, 2013 at 9:57 pm

      In your short response to my haiku, one word epitomizes your essence as an artist: grateful.

      Reply
  3. Carol Bell says:
    October 7, 2013 at 12:27 am

    While living on my ranch in Westsern Colorado, I trained myself to write a haiku a day and continued for 8 years. I still write them, but not as often as I’d like. I love your “new style” 2, Cynthia!

    Here are three of my favorites from my ranching days:

    lanky stalk of grass
    singing in the evening breeze
    your mouth packed with seeds

    like wild hummingbirds
    we gather at the feeder
    gulping poetry

    mountain skunk taunting
    now all our remembrances
    offer aftershocks

    Reply
    • Cynthia Magriel Wetzler says:
      October 7, 2013 at 5:26 pm

      carol your PERFECT haikus make me want so badly to be on that ranch! thank you for taking me there and thank you so much for sharing them.

      practicing haiku is the best practice for evoking what you mean and beyond. no wonder you are such a wonderful poet.

      Reply
      • Carol Bell says:
        October 8, 2013 at 5:43 pm

        Thanks, Cynthia. It was such a joy for me (and my husband) to be able to share the ranch with you. Also, I have a problem with Billy Collin’s haiku, well not the haiku but the seventeen cyllable comment….it’s an 18 cyllable not 17….am I missing something?

        Reply
  4. Carol Bell says:
    October 8, 2013 at 5:47 pm

    oops, that word should be with an “s” not a “c” Yikes, I guess I can’t spell… 🙂

    Reply

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