a simple intro to haiku

I had a wonderful creative writing teacher in high school, some, (mumble, mumble) years ago. Her name was Sr. Marie Emmanuel, and she taught me at St. Sebastian in Chicago. Of course, like a lot of things from my past, Sebastian's is gone now, tho, oddly enough, my doctors office is in the same place.

(Just an aside, do you know how weird it is to being laying on the exam table, in stirrups, waiting for the ever-so-exciting pap smear, and look out the window and see the same d#$% sight that I stared at from Religion class all those years ago??? And how creepy it is? Another example of the odd things that seem to inhabit my world.)

Anyhow, Sister loved poetry. Especially Gerald Manly Hopkins and Haikus. Go figure. Though she did have her Doctorate in Poetry from what I recall. Motivated by a little hero worship of Sister, (she was one of the MAJOR influences on my life) I delved into his work a little more after I grew up. (Around 35 years old, I was) I came to appreciate Hopkins work.

I also wanted to write poetry. But, as much as I admire GMH's works, being, well, lazy, I decided to write haikus rather than emulate his work. (I did mention "lazy" right?)

Well, I wound up writing poetry most of my life, and have kept a lot of it. As with everything else in the universe, 95% of it is crap. But it's my crap....A few years back, I decided to see if I could master the art of haiku. Read up on it and realized what an idiot I am. (No surprise to anyone.)

I find it takes discipline to write the haiku, and to keep it as close as I can to the original intent. What most of us learn in school is the 5/7/5 syllable form and take it from there. But after some investigation, I've picked up a little more than the basics.

It should be about nature. Now I've got a book on traffic haiku, and redneck haiku. But that's more fun stuff. And although I occasionally do write a few non-traditional ones, (my Cubbies),
I like to stick to ones that are closer to the original intent.

Well, if you're still with me, here is stuff I've picked up along the way.
Oh, and one or two quick things:

1. Sr. Emmanuel loved to comment on my creative spelling and use of words. Why change a good thing?

2. The arthritis in my hands, specifically the little fingers, really really makes hitting the shift key a pain in the arse, so I've found that my use of capital letters is pretty much hit and miss.

2.98765. I'd say correct me if you want to. but constructive criticism (?) is not as much fun as you would think, so any "constructive" corrections might be stored in a virtual circular file.


NOW for some things i've learned

• Use concrete images
• Stay away from adverbs and adjectives if possible unless they evoke a sight, smell, touch, sound or taste. for example: 'Lovely' not so good. 'Long" better. the latter is quantifiable.
• Middle line contains essence of poem.
• Top and bottom lines are descriptive and together with the middle line, one of them should make complete thought. The other should be a kind of modifier for the complete thought.
• Now for the fun part: both the top and bottom lines should be able to be the line that combines with the middle to make the complete thought OR the modifier line. And this should be done in the same poem!
  

An example, using one of my own haikus:

LONG SUMMER HOURS
REMEMBERING PAST DAYS
CHESS IN THE BACK YARD

Can be heard:

I remember long summer hours playing chess in the back yard
AND
I remember playing chess in the back yard during the long summer hours.


My plan for this blog is to simply motivate me to write a little several times a week to keep the old gray matter alive and kicking. And maybe entertain or teach a little along the way.

The focus will be on poetry, mainly haikus, with other forms thrown in. And probably some self indulgent meanderings.

So check back often and do me a favor, click on an ad or two or twenty (I get paid by the click!) and I hope you enjoy my blog.

L.