Hello, Raindrop Dancers!
Is fall as emotional for you as it is for me?
drops dance down window
leaves sail free of trees in breeze
start of autumn rains
Haiku as Emotional Discovery
We talk a lot about haiku being the poetry of observation. Usually, we are observing the world outside. But, haiku are also a powerful way to explore your inner world.
What is in your heart? Often, we move around and through the world without ever fully engaging with our feelings.
What happens when you set out to quietly observe, without judgment, the mechanisms of your most inner self?
As I am wont to do when there is nothing I have to do, I was flipping through a poetry book, reading whatever caught my eye when something struck me. The book in this instance was Jane Reichhold’s A Dictionary of Haiku1. This is an unusual book. Like most haiku collections, it is separated into four sections, one for each season. But, in this book, each season is broken down into smaller season words (kigo 季語). Then several haiku that are related to that season word are listed—like a dictionary.
In the fall section, I saw the subheading “blessed”. That set me on a haiku writing exercise. I chose to use the word abundance instead of blessed. I then wrote ten haiku as quickly as possible.
I love doing this kind of exercise because I always discover something about what’s going on in my subconscious.
Here are the results of my Abundance haiku session:
outside my window
a living color palette
each hour, a new look
spacious light oak desk
room to paint, draw, write, and think
stacks of books to read
no boss can keep me
from an extended lunch break
with fall foliage
a new set of paints
and heaps of sketchbook paper
wait for me to play
honking flying-V friends
send their autumn greetings
in transit south
walking through trees
without any pain in knees
a whole day to seize
multitude of pens
to scratch out three-line poems
wine-colored notebook
Taco Bell brought back
their rolled chicken tacos
lunch alone in car
when I close my eyes,
distant dull roar of freeway
becomes the ocean
backyard apple trees
branches bowed with bumper crop
of red jonathans
Haiku Prompt
Pick a word, choosing an emotion or an abstract concept may lead to the most interesting results, but go with your gut when choosing your word. Then write ten haiku about that word. The word does not have to appear in any of your poems, but it can.
Please feel free to share one or more of your poems in the comments. What did you discover? How did it feel to write ten poems on the same topic? Let’s share our discoveries!
Be the poetry you want to see in the world!
Cheers,
Jason
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Jane Reichhold knew more about haiku than just about any other native English speaker ever. She has the best translation of Bashō’s haiku which she combined with a masterful biography. Reichhold was a first-rate haiku poet. In most of her haiku, she chose to forego the 5-7-5 format and instead focused on kigo, wabi-sabi, and brevity. Many of her books are available for free from The Haiku Foundation Digital Library, and physical copies can be purchased on Amazon and other online retailers.
Fall is emotional because it’s often a permission to let things go, and a time to rest.
You bring me joy. Just so you know.