Saturday, April 16, 2016

Haiku A to Z: N is for Nature--and Next

photo courtesy google images
"Haiku is a poetry of nature, but it is also a poetry of human nature. Haiku gives readers feelings, and shows human existence amid nature. Not all haiku is about beauty, but they are always about what is real... On reading a good haiku, we are mentally and emotionally moved to experience what the poet experienced, yet we do so without being told what to feel." --Michael Dylan Welch, Haiku and the Japanese Garden

Haiku--the poetry of nature and also of human nature. I'm still noodling with the concept and form. What's next?

Well, neat books on haiku I'd love to read for one thing. Some titles I've come across that sound interesting:

To Walk in Seasons: an Introduction to Haiku, by William Howard Cohen
Haiku Mind: 108 Poems to Cultivate Awareness and Open Your Heart, by Patricia Donegan
Writing and Enjoying Haiku: A Hands-On Guide, by Jane Reichhold

There's also a little something called NaHaiWriMo: National Haiku Writing Month. The challenge here is to write one haiku a day in the month of February. This, of course, is not to be mistaken for NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) held each November. Will I participate in one of these events next?  Though not on the radar screen at the moment, never say never.

And, lest we forget, April is National Poetry Month!

It was one of those aha moments the day the squirrel and I faced off. Though I cannot take credit for the photo above, the expression I saw on my neighborhood squirrel was similar, which then brings us to my day fourteen haiku:

nearby squirrel sneaks
peek from hole, surprise lights face...
that makes two of us
--Kenda Turner
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7 comments:

  1. Your haiku really does bring a great image to mind. I always wonder how photographers manage to capture such moments because, try though I might, by the time I have my camera in position the moment has passed.

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  2. Sheila--I know what you mean, too many times I miss that great shot as well! Thanks for stopping in... :-)

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  3. :) :) This one made me smile. I love animals.

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  4. :) :) This one made me smile. I love animals.

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  5. Squirrels are crazy critters. Our lot has many trees, and the squirrels insist on jumping from one to the next. So far, they've always made it.

    Here's a kids' haiku book you might like: IF NOT FOR THE CAT - author Jack Prelutsky, I think. It's a book of animal riddles in haiku form.

    "If not for the cat -- and the scarcity of cheese -- I would be content." (Answer - the mouse)

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  6. Sharon, I thought the little guy was cute, too. The one I saw in real time was so funny looking!

    Peggy--I have read Prelutsky's book, and love it! "We are we are we are we are we are we are many in our hill" (answer--ants)... :-) Thanks for the reminder!

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