I do sometimes write free-meter haiku like that. I read a ton of them and enjoy the innovation happening with modern English-language haiku. I don't think I have published any of my free-verse haiku anywhere. I'll have to post some here in the next few weeks!
I mostly write in the 5-7-5 pattern for two reasons. One, part of my mission is to help make poetry in general less scary and encourage people who were chased off from poetry in school to find their way to reading and writing poetry. 5-7-5 haiku is usually a very accessible place for them to test the poetry waters.
Two, I find the rhythm and constraints of the 5-7-5 syllable count alluring. I just can't get enough of it.
I have missed more than a month of prompts, lost in a private lockdown of family illness and caretaking. I wish I had this sketchbook/haiku diary a month ago, when this all started (though who knows if my brain could even be focused enough for 17 syllables). But I think I will try to get back into it now. Thank you as always for all the inspiration.
Oof. The private lockdown of family illness and caretaking is the best way I've heard that phenomenon described. I hope everyone is on the mend and that you are able to find some space to recover as well.
I'd love to know how your retrospective haiku sketching goes!
I loved your haiku sketches. They are a vivid image of how we lived during those lockdown days. The uncertainty of every day, somehow subdued by our new little routines and the hope for better days to come.
Thanks for sharing your haiku! It's funny how connected I feel to other people once I've read their haiku sketches. There is something universal in the deeply personal.
✨
Jason, do you ever write haiku as many current writers do, with fewer than 17 syllables?
Best for me is a 3-line haiku, short line, long line, short line that tops out between 10 and 13 syllables.
I do sometimes write free-meter haiku like that. I read a ton of them and enjoy the innovation happening with modern English-language haiku. I don't think I have published any of my free-verse haiku anywhere. I'll have to post some here in the next few weeks!
I mostly write in the 5-7-5 pattern for two reasons. One, part of my mission is to help make poetry in general less scary and encourage people who were chased off from poetry in school to find their way to reading and writing poetry. 5-7-5 haiku is usually a very accessible place for them to test the poetry waters.
Two, I find the rhythm and constraints of the 5-7-5 syllable count alluring. I just can't get enough of it.
I look forward to seeing some of your modern-English-language haiku!
squirrel
winning our race to a tree
drop his nut
I love how your haiku has a feeling of zen and the playfulness of a tale from The Hundred Acre Woods. A perfect spring haiku.
First one:
Two open textbooks
Laundry, arduous but vital
I'm just winging it
Second one:
Fan spinning, slowly
Long hours listening to music
Silence, elusive
This one is good too! Feels very peacful
This is a good one! That middle line hits home! I hate laundry.
Same 😄. Thank you 💯
Your plague haiku were interesting examples of the personal feeling universal.
Thanks, Raymond! I'm always having to be reminded that the only way to connect with people is to make things personal.
Numero uno:
Stained blue fingertips
Create messier bedsheets
Dried by sunrise
Numero dos:
Patchy brown tongue
Espresso in empty sink
Scrunched clothes messy hair
I love the way you used color in both of these, Karol!
I love learning about your deveopment as a haiku artist.
Lumie lamp wakes me
by mimicking sunrise, still
I go back to sleep
Porridge for breakfast,
not much taste to it really,
at least it’s healthy
I love these little haiku sketches, Shondra!
"I go back to sleep" is a very relatable line for me this week!
Here are three of them for today:
Wind elevates leaves
breaking the humidity
of the stagnant air
walking on hot asphalt
the firmness of man’s labor
gives into black goo
grocery shopping
the daily task of parents
feathers aimed in flight
These are all wonderful! I especially enjoy your middle poem:
walking on hot asphalt
the firmness of man's labor
gives into black goo
What a compelling image!
I have missed more than a month of prompts, lost in a private lockdown of family illness and caretaking. I wish I had this sketchbook/haiku diary a month ago, when this all started (though who knows if my brain could even be focused enough for 17 syllables). But I think I will try to get back into it now. Thank you as always for all the inspiration.
Oof. The private lockdown of family illness and caretaking is the best way I've heard that phenomenon described. I hope everyone is on the mend and that you are able to find some space to recover as well.
I'd love to know how your retrospective haiku sketching goes!
I loved your haiku sketches. They are a vivid image of how we lived during those lockdown days. The uncertainty of every day, somehow subdued by our new little routines and the hope for better days to come.
Here is my first haiku:
https://substack.com/@hanneloreadler/note/c-120361412?r=6ni25&utm_medium=ios&utm_source=notes-share-action
Thanks for sharing your haiku! It's funny how connected I feel to other people once I've read their haiku sketches. There is something universal in the deeply personal.
Thank you! I’m happy to hear you liked it. Here is the second one, sorry for the delay: https://substack.com/@hanneloreadler/note/c-121340237?r=6ni25&utm_medium=ios&utm_source=notes-share-action
No worries! This is an asynchronous poetry club 🤣