THE FUN OF HAIKU

 

by de Yoyo Ich

Remember learning Haiku in school?  So much easier to master than a sonnet.  A sonnet is 14 lines of iambic pentameter (10 syllables per line, unaccent/accent) with a formulaic rhyme scheme.  English majors know this by heart.  Shakespeare and Elizabeth Barrett Browning wrote in sonnet form.  My husband wrote me a sonnet when we were both in college.  I found it just this week amongst treasures I've saved over the years. Ah, what hard work and young love it shows. Such yearning intimacy within the boundaries of three quatrains and a couplet.  We were both glad to read it again.  

But for something creative and masterable, no form surpasses Haiku.  Just 3 lines, 17 syllables.  Line 1 with 5 syllables, Line 2 with 7, and Line 3 with 5 again.  A masterpiece of compact symmetry that can be traced back as far as 9th century Japan.  Basho Matsuo (1644-1694) is one of the masters.

An old silent pond. . .
A frog jumps into the pond,
Splash! Silence again.
           

or

In the twilight rain
these brilliant-hued hibiscus,
A lovely sunset. 

I have been tempted lately to try my hand.  Maybe you will be too. For those into mindfulness, it seems like a way to meditate, think, and become centered when time is short.  Experts in mindfulness who I have been reading have said that.  Here are a few haiku I have enjoyed writing.

  Cloudless

Because she acted,

No more lies could break her heart.

Together once more. 

 Thoughts

What is your pleasure

When your memories are idling?

What color comfort?

Loyalty

One day when I was

Trusting the one that I love

The deep took my breath. 

 Carpe Diem

Early morning sun-

Setting face to the west,

Dusk came in my mind.

Then this one just because I like the picture that inspired me.  

 Saturday

Her balance is fine,

Winter, Summer, Spring and Fall.

All Life and no Work.