Haiku Poetry – The Nitty Gritty
For a poetry form that is just three lines haiku is one of the most complex to get a handle on and do it well. And we do want to do it well, dont we?
THIS “bite sized” article will help you to get your head around the form and explore writing your own. (Look out for various articles that will take you through the form and help you start writing your own haiku).
HAIKU … getting to the nitty gritty
(by Gina – 2009)
Okay so you are now writing your own Haiku … and you are taking note of hints and tips from previous articles , such as http://writinghood.com/style/how-to/what-is-poetry-haiku-part-three/
And of course you read the articles that starts you off on this path of writing your own authentic Haiku beginning with the first article showing you what Haiku IS NOT followed closely by the second.
1. http://writinghood.com/style/how-to/what-is-poetry-haiku/
2. http://writinghood.com/writing/what-is-poetry-haiku-part-two/
Keep honing, and thinking while you gather your notes to write great Haiku. Here are a few ways to ensure you remain focused on writing well.
A Haiku tries to capture one moment by using a couple of sense images, particularly what you see or hear.
- a juxtaposition adds dynamics and emotion, feelings
- ideas are usually implied, shown in details within the images
- a good Haiku is usually open-ended
- Haiku is brief, its concrete (images of things we see, smell, taste, touch or feel)
- the form avoid adverbs (words describing the adverb/action)
- use modifiers sparingly; use them only to make images more exact and precise
- write what you experience with your body instead of your intellect
- by avoiding modifiers AND YOUR OWN OPINION, the Haiku is left with images of things, just as they are
- Haiku are simple – have at least 2 concrete images – no more than three
Haiku can be as diverse as the poets that write them …
- some prefer a couple of images which paint a lovely scene wherein your mind wanders and wonders
- others are more demanding asking for 2 or 3 images to compare, associate or contrast. It is here, you may begin to see metaphors/similies – poetic devices should not be relied upon – good Haiku work best without artifice
- images are inter related – for example, spring is morning, blossoms and babies, autumn is for dying, old folks and evenings
TAKING HAIKU FURTHER:
- embody the spirit of Haiku rather than cleave to a particular pat technique.
- focus on the moment, the immediacy
- leave no space between the observer and observed
- simple, uncomplicated images
- common language
- find the extraordinary in ‘ordinary’ things
- implication through objective presentation (not explanation) – keep humour light
- find the rhythm
- appeal to intuition, not intellect
- get to a sense of place and time (seasons)
Some of my favourite haiku embodying the authenticity of the form and showing us all the way … (look out for the AHA moment which is what we seek to express in Haiku)
in the coffee cup
a gecko
clinging to the ceiling (c) Alex Ask
ice cream truck
the sway of
cone flowers (c) Elliot Nicely
forget-me-not seeds
from the Alzheimer’s Society
beside a rotting pear (c) John Soules
another coffee
ring on the blank page
midnight moon (c) Gina
he questions
his teenage daughter’s night out -
thunder and lightening (c) Myron Lysenko
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