Thank you, this was a great explanation. When I write, counting anything stresses me and interferes with my writing. But I can see the paradox of how a limit (17) can be freeing.
As for the Basho haiku, I much prefer the translation you use in the text. a frog jumping into the sound of water is much more capable of triggering your own story line than transcribing that sound. The Plop and Kerplunk take away from that.
My first haiku written when I was an undergraduate in a creative writing class in 1988!
Indian boys/
sinewy & doe-eyed/
frozen in headlights
Wow! I love how vivid this haiku is! It captures a moment as clearly as any photograph. Thanks for sharing this!
Thank you, Jason.
You're a great teacher, Jason. Anything that slows us down is a win. I think you're luring us to haiku!
Aww, thanks!
This was wonderful! I really enjoyed your discussion of the storytelling aspect of haiku!!! Thank you so much!!!
Thanks for continuing to read and share my weird work!
You're so welcome! Thank you for doing your work!! I appreciate it!!
I just love your writing about haiku, Jason!
and also I love your haiku themselves. But please, keep writing about haiku in general, too!
Thanks! I will definitely keep writing about haiku.
Thank you, this was a great explanation. When I write, counting anything stresses me and interferes with my writing. But I can see the paradox of how a limit (17) can be freeing.
You should try writing free-verse haiku! No syllable counting and you can just write with the constraint of making a short poem.
Great story about story telling!
As for the Basho haiku, I much prefer the translation you use in the text. a frog jumping into the sound of water is much more capable of triggering your own story line than transcribing that sound. The Plop and Kerplunk take away from that.
I agree with you that "sound of water" is the best translation and the more poetic line. I do get a good laugh out of the plop and kerplunk though.