Haiku A to Z: W is for Worthwhile

photo archive 2013

"As with any art, your first attempts may not be the most successful, but it's worthwhile to persist in learning and studying haiku, because few poetic forms manage to capture life's joys and pleasures (and also its sadnesses) as well as haiku." --nahaiwrimo, "Why 'No 5-7-5?'"

Worthwhile--a great word in describing haiku. Nancy Strauss at Creative Writing Now, says it this way: "A haiku uses just a few words to capture a moment and create a picture in the reader's mind. It is like a tiny window into a scene much larger than itself."

Oh, the -W-words: worthwhile...window... add the process itself, writing! Maybe sprinkle a bit of wisdom? Haiku can offer all of these and more.

For example, what about wit? After all, humor can also factor into the craft. Although wittiness is not one of my strengths in writing, I appreciate it when I see (or hear) it. Thus I can't resist sharing the following haiku I've found along the way:

"To convey one's mood
in seventeen syllables
is very diffic"--John Cooper Clarke

"The only problem
with Haiku is that you just 
get started and then"--Roger McGough

And what about this one, reportedly seen on a t-shirt:
Haikus are easy
But sometimes they don't make sense.
Refrigerator.

(typed with a chuckle!)

Wandering on in the world of haiku, I pause with day twenty-three haiku:

bubbles ricochet

on rush to falls...splash! weary

feet soak in the sound

--Kenda Turner

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Haiku A to Z: V is for Variation--and Venture

a favorite 2014

"There are many variations of haiku, but all haiku are small poems. Some forms count syllables, others don't. Some are written in variations of longer and shorter lines--others are simply limited by the overall number of syllables." --Haiku Journal

Does the idea of variation--so many varying styles and approaches--in haiku put up roadblocks to your attempts to write this type of poetry and cause you to veer away before even giving it a chance? Here comes my pep talk--don't be afraid to venture into the world of haiku!

Simple exercises can help get you started. One idea I particularly like:

"Try to write a haiku--or several haiku. Before you do, go to a natural setting and study a specific area. Visually create a circle thirty feet in diameter, and keep your eyes trained on that spot. When your observation connects with a specific movement, write our opening line. The movement may carry you through two lines, or just one. Either way, look for the juxtaposition in the relationship--aging willow/image unsteady--and use the rest of your haiku to write it out. Write sparsely and with precision. When you've completed your written observation, hone it to a 5-7-5 syllable count but leave nothing essential out." --"Experience the World Precisely" at Poetry Through the Ages

Charles Trumbull, editor of Modern Haiku has said, "Haiku, like other forms of poetry, are vehicles for transmitting meaning." Using haiku as a vehicle we come to day twenty-two haiku:

violet face sweet

quietness tucked in the grass...

smiles pass hand to heart

--Kenda Turner

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Haiku A to Z: U is for Unfinished, Unique

at the park 2013

"Because of its brevity, haiku can say only so much. Yet it really does say so much. It does this by relying on implication, on what is not said. No wonder haiku has been called an 'unfinished' poem. The reader must finish it, bringing his or her own experience into the picture. The poem itself makes the most of this expectation by focusing on the universal in the particular, and the particular in the universal. A haiku makes us aware of what we already know, but may not know that we know." --Michael Dylan Welch, Ten Ways to Improve Your Poetry with Haiku

Unfinished poetry...universal in the particular...particular in the universal. Unusual definitions but quite apt considering all the qualities of haiku.

Might we also add the word unique? A unique form of poetry, a unique group of poets, each haiku poem written unique in its own right.

On the surface, a simple form of poetry--unhurried, unruffled. But unfolding the layers, often profound. So, yes, unique.

Sometimes we miss the mark, but the upshot is that the journey is the best part of it all. And so contributing to the discussion once more, day twenty-one haiku:

under cobalt sky

young boy chasing raft of ducks...

shoreline undulates

--Kenda Turner

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Haiku A to Z: T is for Techniques and Tips

photo archives 2013

"I felt rescued when I came across Aware--a haiku primer written by hand and illustrated by Betty Drevniok...I came away with her precept: 'Write [haiku] in three short lines using the principle of comparison, contrast, or association.' On page 39 she used an expression I had been missing in the discussion of haiku when she wrote: 'This technique provides the pivot on which the reader's thought turns and expands.' Technique! So there are tools one can use! I thought joyfully." --Jane Reichhold, Haiku Techniques

The feelings expressed by Ms. Reichhold (above link) have probably been relived many times over by writers of haiku through the years. We finally find out we've not been left alone in our efforts--there are guidelines to help us, tips and advice on techniques.  And her essay is one of the best on the subject.

In it she expands beyond the ideas of comparison, contrast and association to include some twenty additional techniques. Among other things, her list includes: riddle, sense-switching, narrowing focus, sketch, and word-plays. If you are interested in writing haiku, you might check out the link.

Mark Blasini, in Five Techniques for Writing Haiku, expands on the idea of technique with these subjects: what-when-where, juxtaposition, unfolding, zooming, and sketch from life.

Michael Dylan Welch, in Ten Ways to Improve Your Poetry with Haiku, has compiled an even different list. His includes:  focus on concrete images, come to your senses, control objectivity and subjectivity, and distinguish between description and inference.

And there's more! Ms. Reichhold goes from techniques and tips to a discussion on rules: Haiku Rules That Have Come and Gone, Take Your Pick. It appears that Pablo Picasso, to whom the quote "learn the rules like a pro so you can break them like an artist" is attributed, could have been speaking of haiku, too.

Tremendous treasures have been uncovered the last few days with more to go. As we travel on this journey, I share this day twenty haiku:

teasel cones aim at

far field galaxies...cargo

stands at the ready

--Kenda Turner

(note, update: I first posted this with my haiku reading: 'thistle cones...' until I realized my photo is not of thistles! It took some research to learn they are called 'common teasels.' What, who knew? After all these years of calling them thistles. Amazingly, for this challenge, the correct name also starts with a -t-!)

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Haiku A to Z: S is for Smorgasboard

in woods 2014

"smorgasboard (n): 1.) a buffet offering a variety of hot and cold meats, salads, hor'doeuvres, etc. 2.) a wide range of something, a variety."

Seems like a discussion on haiku offers a buffet table variety of thoughts, approaches, invitations, opinions and more. Dishing up some examples:

On simple moments: "I guess haiku is an inspiration for me. Everyday, simple moments." --Misha Collins

On sounds: "Try to use sounds that reinforce your meaning. For example, words with short i's and t's might sound like raindrops; words with sh's might sound like wind or rushing water" --Fran Santoro Hamilton, "How to Write a Powerful Haiku Poem"

On success: "Crafting your content to fit with the seventeen-syllable framework is simultaneously an amusement and a challenge. Success can produce a unique feeling of triumph." --Fran Santoroa Hamilton (same as above)

On stress: "Haiku will keep you working with words, but it will also help you deal with your stress. And here's the best part: you don't have to wrestle with rhyme!" --Bruce Lansky

On submissions: "My first publication was a haiku in a children's magazine when I was 9 years old. I received one dollar for it! I gave the check to my dad for Christmas, and he framed it and hung it over his desk." --Linda Sue Park, Newbery Award winning author of A Single Shard

So, adding to the smorgasboard, I submit a day nineteen haiku:

silver spider web

collects diamond dew drops

for woodland showcase

--Kenda Turner

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Haiku A to Z: R is for Reinforcement, Revelation

photo archives 2012

"Haiku reinforces elements of the writing process as well as supports personal growth." --Chris Colderley, Let's Do Haiku!

I like the two sides to haiku.

Yes, writing haiku does reinforce elements of the writing process which include, but are not exclusive to, rewriting and revision. 

But its capacity for revelation and resonance, generally rooted in the every day, often jumpstarts a period of growth. That ah-ha moment isn't just for the reader. It comes first for the poet.

So, thanks to haiku, a writing life can be re-inspired. It has happened to me. Writing these short poems might not be a true retreat to a cabin in the woods, but I can pretend...

Has anything come along to reinforce and restart your writing life lately?

Revealing day eighteen haiku:

red berries turn on

porch light and illuminate

way to empty nest

--Kenda Turner

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Haiku A to Z: Q is for Quiet, with Quotes

following quiet path 2014

"Only in quiet waters do things mirror themselves undistorted. Only in a quiet mind is adequate perception of the world." --Hans Margolius

In an article at Poetry Through the Ages titled "Movement Frozen in Time" (here), a quiet picture of haiku masters is painted: "The beauty of haiku often becomes the bane of impatient writers: capturing a single moment, movement, or experience in its entirety, in three lines totaling 17 syllables or less. The masters of form spent years of traveling, wandering, observing, contemplating, and writing to refine their craft into the timeless flashes that populate haiku collections and anthologies today."

Imagine the moments of quiet they relished as they lived out their quest. Might we not benefit from some of that, too? Perhaps a slower pace, taking intentional time for reflection, or even curtailed electronic device time? Haiku--writing and/or reading--can also create these kinds of moments.

Actually, any form of poetry can help accomplish this. A few quotes to inspire us on our way:

"Poetry is an echo, asking a shadow to dance." --Carl Sandburg

"Breathe-in experience, breathe-out poetry." --Muriel Rukeyser

"The world is full of poetry. The air is living with its spirit; and the waves dance to the music of its melodies and sparkle in its brightness." --James Gates Percival

"It is written on the arched sky; it looks out from every star. It is the poetry of Nature; it is that which uplifts the spirit within us." --John Ruskin

"If I feel physically as if the top of my heard were taken off, I know that is poetry." --Emily Dickinson

...and a personal favorite:

"Don't underestimate the value of Doing Nothing, of just going along, listening to all the things you can't hear, and not bothering." --Pooh's Little Instruction Book, inspired by A. A. Milne

And so in a moment of quietness I share day seventeen haiku:

quest for haiku path 

begins long before words pass

from pen to paper

--Kenda Turner

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