Haiku A to Z: P is for Punctuation

local pioneer cemetery 2016

"(On) Too Much Punctuation: Avoid periods. A haiku is one moment in a continuum: a period often destroys that illusion (so may beginning with a capital letter). Other punctuation: The average haiku has one break in thought or continuity, usually at the end of line 1 or 2 (sometimes, the middle of line 2). If punctuated at all, it is usually with a colon, dash or ellipsis. An occasional dash or ellipsis may provide emphasis either before or after the final word (or phrase). In general, shy away from punctuation unless you are sure of its benefit." --Larry Gross, Japanese Poetry Patterns

The appropriate use (or not) of punctuation is an important consideration in the pursuit of writing haiku, as Mr. Gross explains above. Thus punctuation plays in the particulars. But I've found other -P- words that play into the process as well. My short list includes:

Ponder (nurture a sense of wonder and curiosity)... Practice (no, the final version does not come automatically in the first draft)... Permission (to write bad poetry on the way to good)... Patience (there are positives in the journey even if the end goal is elusive)...

And don't forget portable--it's poetry you can easily take with you!

Still pursuing the elusive haiku, so here we go--presenting Day Sixteen Haiku:

wildflower clusters

decorate pioneer graves...
bluebird comes singing

--Kenda Turner

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Haiku A to Z: O is for Overheard Haiku

photo courtesy pixabay

"It seems that unintentional haiku can be found anywhere if you bother to look and listen. I myself have overheard accidental haiku in such unlikely places as a school hallway and a supermarket aisle." --Billy Collins, Introduction to Haiku in English

I have my ears open for overheard haiku...and it's not the same as eavesdropping :-)

I first came across this concept when reading an online piece by Damion Searls, "Overheard Haiku." He writes of speech  rhythms and how we can hear the rhythms of haiku in everyday speech. He says: "It's not a haiku--the haiku form has demands besides 5-7-5 syllables e.g. seasonal key words (kigo), one image, two moments with a turn or jump cut between them indicated by a 'cutting word' (kireji). It's the serendipitous, spoken, American form: the overheard haiku."

Continuing: "After paying attention and counting syllables for not very long at all, you can hear this form everywhere. The length of a thought--in English? Or with average walking speeds? Or that you can remember when you're not really listening?--seems naturally to fall into 5-7-5 syllables."

One of his examples:
She has a home phone.
Who has home phones?...Yeah, different
lifestyle...Totally

"English is a great language for writing headlines, and tweets, but also for hearing haiku," Collins concludes. "You can't plan a phrase like this, craft it, present yourself to the world with it; it's something you run across, something the facts of the world and of language fall into. As though by chance. It's something you've trained your ear to notice, a way of paying attention."

Another opening to new ideas the study of haiku has brought into play. I tried really hard over the weekend to tune into haiku speech patterns and this is what I heard at a t-ball game, day fifteen:

okay, you can ask
all you want, I'll still say
no...oh, whatever

--Kenda Turner

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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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Haiku A to Z: M is for Mood, and Middle

photo courtesy of pixabay

"Haiku poems celebrate appreciation for beauty and nature. Plants, animals, water, weather, and seasons are often subjects of haiku. Powerful yet sensitive, these poems communicate a mood or tone without actually using words to describe feelings." --Kim Kautzer, Writing Haiku Poetry

We are smack-dab in the middle of the A-Z Challenge and, most appropriately, M is not only for mood, but for middle--being that the letter M is exactly in the middle of the alphabet and all!

And so we take a look at mood--the emotional effect that the poem creates for the reader. As Ms. Kautzer (above quote) continues to explain: "When writing haiku poetry, think about the emotions you want your reader to experience. Paint a picture with your words to express a mood." (A great resource for a list of "mood words" can be found here at English with Mr. Scott.)

At the same time, we are at the middle point of our challenge. What mood are we in here (ha)?

And so, for day thirteen haiku, I ask:

in the middle of

a challenge is your cup half

empty or half full?

--Kenda Turner

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Haiku A to Z: L is for Look

captured moment, bee to flower 2013

"Haiku is a way of looking at the world around you and capturing beautiful moments." --From the Mixed Up Files...of Middle Grade Authors

One thing the writing of haiku accomplishes--it makes you want to look around at what most of the time is commonplace and find the beauty in it. Japanese poet and painter Yosa Buson (1716-1784) expressed it this way: "Use the commonplace to escape the commonplace."

Other inspiring quotes on what it means to really look:

"It's not what you look at that matters, it's what you see." --Henry David Thoreau

"Look deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better." --Albert Einstein

"When you take a flower in your hand and really look at it, it's your world for the moment. I want to give that world to someone else. Most people in the city rush around so, they have no time to look at a flower. I want them to see it whether they want to or not." --artist Georgia O'Keefe

"Do days go by when you are too busy to write haiku until a pressing deadline forces you to look! and there they are, haiku all around you?" --Jane Reichhold

Still learning to look--with the goal of really seeing--and sharing day twelve haiku:

lone thistle in field--

how can this proud beauty be

considered a weed?

--Kenda Turner

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Haiku A to Z: K is for Kigo, Kidai, and Key

full moon over backyard 2012

"Haiku's imagery and affective content are unique. Traditional haiku incorporates a kigo (season word) or a kidai (seasonal topic) including recurring human events usually connected to natural cycles...Almost always traditional haiku include a concrete image drawn from non-human nature. Therefore one could define haiku as human feeling connected with nature." --Bruce Ross

Haiku incorporates a kigo (season word) or kidai (seasonal topic). Or not.

Haiku has three lines of 5, 7, 5 syllables. Or not.

Haiku contains seventeen syllables. Or not.

For the longest time I was somewhat baffled over things I was reading about haiku; guidelines seemed contradictory. And then one day, something clicked. I found the key to my confusion.

Simply put, there's a difference between traditional Japanese haiku and later-developing English-language or Western haiku. The change began in the 1950s when poets of the more modern form embarked on paths that varied from the traditional.

The online literary publication Daily Haiku says this: "There is some debate as to the definition of haiku and its 'proper' form. The best and most concise definition seems to be: Haiku is a minimalist form of unrhymed poetry consisting of seventeen syllables or less. Traditional Japanese haiku carry an unrhymed, three line, 5-7-5 syllabic (beat) structure with a seasonal reference. Over the years, English Language haiku authors have transplanted the traditional Japanese structure into their own language with varying degrees of success...Contemporary English-language haiku artists have largely abandoned the 5-7-5 structure and tend to gravitate toward shorter syllabic counts more representative of the verbal length of Japanese counterparts."

Whew, once I came to ken (Scottish dialect for 'understand') the difference, I could relax--and enjoy the variations that come with the form. Both can be greatly appreciated!

A few sources that explain this concept in more depth include:
Becoming a Haiku Poet
Beyond the Haiku Moment
Forms in English Haiku
Japanese Poetry Patterns
How to Write a Haiku Poem
Understanding Modern English-Language Haiku

(And, adding to the conversation, I've come across these terms: desk haiku and pseudo-haiku. Loosely defined: haiku that uses any inspiration as a starting point (as opposed to writing haiku only from an 'ah-ha' moment). Thus explains the three-lined ditties that are fun and spontaneous, often entertaining and light-hearted. Jack Preluksky's If Not for the Cat comes to mind, a book of haiku that "asks you to think about seventeen favorite residents of the animal kingdom in a new way." So don't be intimidated by haiku--there's a form out there for just about everyone. And certainly don't kill the moment over fear of doing it right or wrong. The key is to enjoy writing!) 

Kicking around ideas again with Day Eleven Haiku:

katydids strum wing

strings, choir song crescendos...

lullaby brings sleep

--Kenda Turner

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Haiku A to Z: J is for Juxtaposition

spring day walk 2016

"Haiku juxtaposes seemingly unrelated observations in order to glimpse the hidden connections between things. It relies on mood and suggestiveness." --John Drury, Creating Poetry

.Juxtaposition (n): "the action of putting close together; place side-by-side."

This dictionary definition of juxtaposition is fine, as far as it goes. But one writer, speaking on the subject of haiku, takes the definition to a higher level. Michael Dylan Welch in his article Becoming a Haiku Poet speaks of juxtaposition in terms of a spark plug. I love the analogy:

"A haiku," Welch says, "also centers structurally on a pause or caesura ('kire' in Japanese). By juxtaposing two elements or parts (with one of the elements spanning over two of the poem's three lines), the two parts create a spark of energy, like the gap in a spark plug. The two elements of a good haiku may seem unrelated at first glance, but if the reader lingers on them sufficiently, he or she may notice a reverberation. When you realize the connection between the two parts (sometimes called an 'internal comparison'), you have a 'spark' of realization, an 'aha' moment. As a writer of haiku, it's your job to allow the poem to have that spark--and not spell it out for the reader. This is perhaps the most difficult thing to do with haiku, as well as its most important--yet often least understood--structural characteristic."

Juxtaposition equates to a spark plug? Now that's a way to express a concept in a visual way! I'm still processing but hope to incorporate the technique as I continue to learn.

Joining in with a Day Ten Haiku:

jumping children grab

grandpa's hand and pull to creek...

robin wrestles bait

--Kenda Turner

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