Haiku: write three simple lines

We attended a class in Haiku poetry a few years ago. The approach from school days always stuck with me–write three lines of five syllables, seven, then five again. I have written a few through the years, but took more interest after the class. Tim and I have each written in journals, attempted essay and story–published a few things here and there.

I attended a workshop with Natalie Goldberg in 1991 and began practicing her approach to “writing practice” and I have read most of her books since that early one, Writing Down the Bones. When I saw that a new one had come out, I ordered it. This one is all about her longtime study of Haiku.

She began learning about it from Beat poet, Allen Ginsberg. He named the four great haiku writers–Basho, Buson, Issa and Shiki. Basho’s most famous one may sound familiar:

FROG JUMPS

AN OLD POND

WATER SOUND

Ginsberg explained in his teaching that the rule about the syllables works differently in Japanese–not to worry about that so much when writing in English. “The only real measure of haiku is upon hearing one, your mind experiences a small sensation of space which is nothing less than God.”

Tim and I recently began practicing some haiku writing at the kitchen table.

PAINTED YELLOW STICK

WHITE PAPER HORSE

HELLO RED TULIPS! PP

SOUNDS OF SPRING

THE BUZZING OF CHAIN SAWS

WITH BIRD SONGS. TR

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FLEA MARKET MIRROR

CLOCK SAYS TEN PAST ELEVEN

COLORED FLAGS FLY. PP

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WHAT OF THE WOOD PILE

STACKED SNOW

IMAGINE THE WARMTH. TR

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CORAL ROSE ON MILKGLASS CUP

PARROT TULIP IN SAGE VASE

ROBIN SEEKS WORM ON SOGGY GRASS. PP

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GAZING AT THE FIELD

FROM THE DECK

COME FRIENDS! TR

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PALE GREEN PATIO TABLE

FOLDED WOOD EASEL

FAUX SUNFLOWER SWAYING IN THE BREEZE. PP

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