February 26, 2016

• Some Thoughts on Haiku and Tanka

  branches outstretched
  a grounded tree
  dreams of flight

  --

  While visiting a used bookstore in Chiang Mai, Thailand, I purchased a book on the subject of haiku. As a result, I have tried to be more selective in choosing words to convey the emotion of the moment when writing the Japanese forms. I like the 5-7-5 syllable form that is associated with the American school of thought regarding how to write them, but it gets more complicated when one breaks things down into how traditional haiku were written based on the long and short sounds of the language in which the form has its origin. We think in terms of syllable count, but the Japanese forms are more intricate than this, based on other sources I have come across in the last few weeks. I still haven't wrapped my head around what I have learned, and do not understand it enough yet to feel comfortable giving it a try.

  I still focus my haiku on 5-7-5 and my tanka on 5-7-5-7-7 for the most part, but occasionally I do come up with something different that gets me outside of the form. I like the idea of knowing the form and being formless, as it releases the kung fu of poetry into what I write. There is a time for forms of poetry, but there is also a time for improvisation.

  --

  empty paper cup
  crumpled and then discarded
  gurgling water

  --

  new year's first full moon
  hide-and-seek among the clouds
  soon enough tears fall

  --

  sun, wind, rain, snow, mist
  what comes next does not matter
  it's been seen before
  and it will be seen again
  welcome each like an old friend

  • 4:36 pm
  • 3 Comments