…is a very short form of Japanese poetry. It is typically characterised by three qualities:
- The essence of haiku is “cutting” (kiru).[1] This is often represented by the juxtaposition of two images or ideas and a kireji (“cutting word”) between them,[2]a kind of verbal punctuation mark which signals the moment of separation and colors the manner in which the juxtaposed elements are related.
- Traditional haiku consist of 17 on (also known as morae though often loosely translated as “syllables”), in three phrases of 5, 7, and 5 on respectively.[3]
- A kigo (seasonal reference), usually drawn from a saijiki, an extensive but defined list of such words.
– Wikipedia
American Haiku
Jack Kerouac’s Book of Haikus
… on the other hand, as started by Jack Kerouac,
“The American Haiku is not like Japanese Haiku. The Japanese Haiku is strictly disciplined to seventeen syllables but since the language structure is different, I don’t think American Haikus (short three-line poems intended to be completely packed with Void of Whole) should worry about syllables because American speech is something again… bursting to pop.
Above all, a Haiku must be very simple and free of all poetic trickery and make a little picture and yet be as airy and graceful as a Vivaldi Pastorella.”
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From “Goodbye Christopher Robin”
– Bees were buzzing during Christopher Robin and his father’s first walk to the woods together. The father stands still, trying to control himself, from his association of the sounds to traumatic experiences from the war.
The boy looked up to his father, “Bees are good, aren’t they? Even though they can sting, they hardly ever do, so long as you leave them to get on with things. They just want to make honey.”
The father replies, “Honey… bees… I completely forgot about bees… And honey.
I forgot about honey.”
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I used to go to Pages bookstore at Queen West Toronto (it closed down many years ago) and picked up a Haiku book just out of curiosity.
Haiku was invented in the 1600’s but I fell in love with it in the 2000’s; the detailed and pensive descriptions reflected how I felt inside when I hear the sounds of dry leaves rustling, the warmth of the sun against my skin, the smell of saltwater from the ocean or how the ice-covered dead trees fascinate me during winter… simple reminders, which we can all find in our respective daily grind, that we all too often ignore, which is why we tend to forget that Life is a Gift.
Below are some of my favourite traditional Haiku poems along with some college Haiku, which, if you’re asking me, is genius in its own right.
Basho Matsuo (1644-1694)
Autumn moonlight –
a worm digs silently
into the chestnut.
Kobayashi Issa (1763-1828)
Autumn wind –
mountain’s shadow
wavers.
Don’t weep, insects –
Lovers, stars themselves,
Must part.
Michael Dylan Welch (1962- )
meteor shower
a gentle wave
wets our sandals
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Check out old school Haiku here
Check out new school Haiku here
Gelene 