1.12.2010

7 days - 7 poems - Day 3

So I figured why not get the haiku stuff out of the way today. I might have saved them for an emergency later in the week, but what's poetry about if not living on the edge?

Below I have some haiku and various forms of waka. Waka just means 'Japanese poetry'. I'll label the different forms and if anyone is interested the above links can give more details.

I wrote all these in the laundromat just now and by the end all my thoughts were being divided into syllable compartments. That has now stopped.

Also, although I vaguely recalled nature needs some role in a proper haiku I assumed the 5-7-5 pattern was pretty standard and mandatory. It is not. Just like so much else in poetry there has been a lot of changes in the past few decades. Syllables, structure, etc. Read about it to your heart's content here.

I didn't realize that though, so I've followed the 5-7-5 form and whatever other structures seemed standard. Also, I've said whatever the heck I want below. Nature be damned!

Although...I might take advantage of that loophole, research haiku more closely and come back later in the week with some gang-buster, nature stuff.

Haiku

I wanted to use
'articulated lorry'
in a haiku. Done!
---
Tanka ('short poem')

I could have gotten
away with one of these poems
for today, but that
seems to go against, if not
the letter, then the spirit.
---
Chōka ('long poem')

The danger with these
forms of poetry is that
the syllable game
takes precedence and I miss
opportunities
for creative bull-kaka.
(Note the lack of swears here mum.)
---
Sedōka ('whirling head poem')

In space, no one can
hear you scream. In Hawaii,
the word aloha means both
hello and goodbye.
The former from a poster.
The latter from Inessa.
---
Katauta ('poem fragment')

You think this is half
a sedōka? Speak to the
Japanese man with the sword.
---
Bussokusekika (something to do with the silhouette of the Buddha's feet)

I want to find the
best five syllable first line,
secret it away,
then reveal its existence
once I am Prime Minister.
That'll surprise everyone.
---
And more haiku...

Hey you! Sean Chambers.
This is me declaring a
haiku war. Go time!

If a t-shirt makes
friends with jeans in the dryer
it stays wet longer.

(p.s. - I'm going to post two more poems in a bonus post, but I'm saying this here in case people only visit this page and don't go to the main blog)

2 comments:

  1. A. That's a lot of poems to come up with while doing laundry, so bravo. B. I challenge you to write a haiku about art nouveau (art nouveau is inspired by nature, so this can be one of your nature poems, just sayin'). C. Thanks to you I now know the laundr'o'mat is a place of deep contemplation.

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  2. hah i lol-ed several times. great work and i really enjoyed the way the poems work as a set. whimsical and fun. perfect.

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