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Jon Woodhams

2 Years Ago

Haiku

I've had such a great time participating in the word-oriented threads here (Linked Words, Acronym Game, and Six Word Stories), and there's been such a great response to them, that I thought there might be room for one more. Haiku is a Japanese poetry form that is tightly structured with three lines: The first line has five syllables, the second line has seven, and the third line has five. Like this:

Just five syllables
(first line), then seven (next line),
then five more--you're done!

OR

How about Haiku?
Five/seven/five syllables.
Poems that don't need rhymes.

Or

Music soothes the soul.
Art engages the spirit.
Why not try them both?

A lot of Haiku poems I've read employ a subtle wit or sense of humor, but I don't think they have to. Give it a try and have fun!

Reply Order

Post Reply
 

Susan Maxwell Schmidt

2 Years Ago

A new can of Spam
Pink gelatinous meat blob
I ain't eating that

 

Jon Woodhams

2 Years Ago

Love it! :)

 

Susan Maxwell Schmidt

2 Years Ago

:: curtsy ::

Choosing employment
"Do art" said no one ever
I should have listened

 

Shawn O'Brien

2 Years Ago

Keep it simple Stu
Let the great ideas Flo
Quick and content Rich

 

Jon Woodhams

2 Years Ago

Discussion forums
are not the place for haiku!
Art and words don't mix.

Of course I'm kidding.
After all, I started this.
I can't turn back now.


 

Susan Maxwell Schmidt

2 Years Ago

A fact in my house
Pet hair found in the kitchen
Is a condiment

 

Jack Torcello

2 Years Ago

Liz Truss for P M?
I don't think so any more
She's gone: close the door!

 

David Manlove

2 Years Ago

Why Five, Seven, Five?
I do not understand it.
Call me a numbskull.

 

Jon Woodhams

2 Years Ago

Why Five, Seven, Five?
A mystery, it is true...
How it's always been.

 

Jack Torcello

2 Years Ago

Why iambic pentameter?
Why Alexandrine rhyme-schemes?
Why Limericks?

Write an Alexandrine Haiku Limerick anybody?! :)

 

L A Feldstein

2 Years Ago

Bright sunshine abounds
Summer flowers soon grow tall
Bees gather pollen


What's in a picture
Can you see the spirit there
Or linger awhile

 

Shawn O'Brien

2 Years Ago

Laughter lifted me
from the depths of broken dreams
Friends, dear treasured Friends

 

Jon Woodhams

2 Years Ago

Can I forget you,
even now that you are gone?
I still dream of you.

 

L A Feldstein

2 Years Ago

Words appeared, useless
Reading now seemed tiresome
Sleep and dreams beckoned

 

David Manlove

2 Years Ago

Because I kissed you
I am forever broken
Never again love

 

Becky Titus

2 Years Ago

Where is my pencil?
I need to make a drawing
And color it pink.

 

Jon Woodhams

2 Years Ago

Wrote a poem today,
the best I've ever written.
Now I can't find it.

 

Susan Maxwell Schmidt

2 Years Ago

Five, seven and five
Is English language haiku
Not so in Japan

 

Jon Woodhams

2 Years Ago

I didn't know that, Susan. What is the pattern there?

 

Jon Woodhams

2 Years Ago

Two roads to follow:
I chose the one less traveled,
changing everything.

(With apologies to Robert Frost!)

 

L A Feldstein

2 Years Ago

Clever Tom spoke out
Attracting much attention
But sadly all left

 

Susan Maxwell Schmidt

2 Years Ago

Jon, there are actually quite a few rules to writing a real haiku besides the misguided syllable counting (which tends to make them too long by Japanese standards), which is a far cry from what we're doing here, and despite its simplicity (or perhaps because of it) it's actually considered fairly difficult to do well... and with good reason.

These sites will explain it better than I can without writing a missive:

https://www.nahaiwrimo.com/why-no-5-7-5
https://thehaikufoundation.org/some-thoughts-on-line-and-syllable-count-in-english-language-haiku/

And if you want to get really serious about it:
https://www.tofugu.com/japan/haiku/

 

Jon Woodhams

2 Years Ago

Thanks! I'll check them out.

I've actually always liked the sparseness and discipline of having to work within the 5/7/5 parameters. But I'll be interested to see what the next levels are.

In the meantime, I'm thoroughly enjoying the thread, both reading others' posts and getting to write my own.

 

Saskia Vaughan

2 Years Ago

computer light room
publishing my photographs
wishing they would sell

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Susan Maxwell Schmidt

2 Years Ago

My attempt at something a bit more traditional in the technically required nature theme (and 5-7-5 cuz English, but I did try for more brevity)

At morning's first light
the garden begins to sing
as day comes to life

 

L A Feldstein

1 Month Ago

He stared at his shoes
Pondering the morning walk
Which way? East or West?

 

Karen Newell

1 Month Ago

monochromatic
snow blanketed scenery
cotyledons sleep

 

Katherine Nutt

1 Month Ago

Despite challenges
All my ducks are in a row
At least that task is done

 

L A Feldstein

1 Month Ago

The tiny footprints
Told me of their late visit
Creatures of the night

 

Karen Newell

1 Month Ago

insomniac eyes
awake instead of asleep
wild winter winds moan

 

Karen Newell

27 Days Ago

I call the crows in
scattering seed and meat scraps
across the frozen snow

 

L A Feldstein

27 Days Ago

Ice crystals sparkle
Sending prisms of color
In the noonday sun

 

Shaolan Sung

27 Days Ago

from the Gulf of Spain
to the Gulf of Canada
sparrows migrate, fast

 

L A Feldstein

25 Days Ago

Decision making
Was his downfall -- yes or no
He blundered along

 

L A Feldstein

21 Days Ago

Images floating
Across imaginary
Landscapes swiftly gone

I hold them briefly
A moment's treasure vanished
I was then too late

 

Karen Newell

21 Days Ago

under the white snow
blanketed beneath old grass
the tree roots whisper

 

L A Feldstein

19 Days Ago

Early morning birds
Looking for food in the snow
Feathers are fluffed out

 

Ed Meredith

19 Days Ago

every da i wait
for inspiration to strike
today not that day

 

L A Feldstein

17 Days Ago

Can't soar like the hawk
Can't be agile like the squirrel
I watch and enjoy

 

Katherine Nutt

12 Days Ago

Mundane elements
Not a destination view
Despite that- Beauty

Cherish the beauty
And in each of its moments
Find Eternity

 

Shaolan Sung

11 Days Ago

roaming through ashes
no home, no shelter, no land--
swallowed by darkness

 

Robert Yaeger

10 Days Ago

She is by my side
Snoring ever so loudly
Shall I wake her up?

 

Robert Yaeger

9 Days Ago

Noise it is so loud
The sleep it is so steadfast
She is a puppy

 

L A Feldstein

9 Days Ago

Bird feeder empty
Chickadee angrily squawked
Feed me, feed me, please

 

L A Feldstein

9 Days Ago

A summer's picnic
by a quiet woodland pond
Revealed the frog

 

Katherine Nutt

5 Days Ago

A painted figure
With an enigmatic smile
Reflecting us all

 

L A Feldstein

5 Days Ago

The soft snow flurries
Foretold the impending storm
A blanket of white

 

Ed Meredith

4 Days Ago

be one where there's two
think not of the difference
think of the sameness

 

L A Feldstein

2 Days Ago

The new book opened
A new adventure begins
Faraway places

 

Ed Meredith

1 Day Ago

sunsets paint the sky
in technicolor of mind
looking inside out

 

L A Feldstein

13 Hours Ago

Wind blows, fog sets in
The temperatures are dropping
Winter lingers on

 

Ed Meredith

4 Hours Ago


daylight increases
until the summer solstice
long live my shadow

 

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