Introduction:
For such a short and seemingly simple form debate around what haiku is continues to rock up a storm with impassioned arguments around preference and approach.
THE DAILY HAIKU offers 5/7/5 syllables as a guideline for writing haiku and I would like to stress, as I often do, that this is NEVER a RULE. The 5/7/5 framework can be especially helpful to those new to haiku but despite the choice involved in using this format it is an area frequently challenged and questioned. 5/7/5 stresses the mechanics of haiku rather than the craft but remains a popular option for many experienced haiku writers too.
I thought a fruitful approach would be to dig down through a creative process into what haiku means to you alongside our more formal and informal debates. This is because despite its shifting form and function it clearly does mean something different to everyone.
Haiku Workshop
The following questions framed this quest:
If Haiku were a season what would it be?
If you touched Haiku what would it feel like?
What does Haiku taste like if anything?
Where does Haiku live? Describe the environment?
Does Haiku have a colour?
What are Haiku’s best features?
What isn’t Haiku?
What does Haiku do?
What doesn’t Haiku do?
What does Haiku see?
Who are Haiku’s friends?
Where does Haiku want to go?
What does Haiku say if anything?
If Haiku were an animal what would it be?
If Haiku were a smell what is it?
If Haiku wanted to try something new what would it be?
How does Haiku move (if at all)?
What does Haiku look like?
How does Haiku feel?
I then ask you after playing with the above answers to have a go at defining haiku in one sentence from your point of view.
1
What emerged from this creative process was that haiku evoked dramatically contrasting and diverse responses that included John Lanyon’s ‘shy seed’ to Kitty Kisrow’s ‘expresso shot poetry’ to Shirley Zanes’ “pedicab taking me on a slower journey through life’s busy streets.” What is common to all responses to date is the passion haiku conjures up in us all and the ensuing frustrations and joys around writing haiku.
Haiku is personal, perhaps that is why we can get personal at times in our haiku debates. But expressing the personal through creative means embraces the personal without getting personal!
Here is a selection for you to enjoy of the many creative responses to ‘What does Haiku mean to you?’ 2
Thank you to those who completed the creative quest. In reading through I feel, without tussling with the technicalities of this quixotic form, I have a clearer glimpse of haiku and its many coloured coats. I love too, without prompting, that many of the responses are of course in haiku form. I feel that having questions about what it isn’t as much as what it is brings us closer to finding its changing, slippery and glorious essence.
1
Alan Summers
Haiku evades our capture so if we want to be free we shouldn’t attempt to conquer ‘haiku’ but let it conquer us.
Cindy Ravines Haiku is a camera taking photos of the present
Much needed outlet
Haiku is my therapy
Tapping into NOW
Lynda Flint haiku is a fresh sweet fig, first taste never leaves you
3
Oz Hardwick
If Haiku were a season what would it be? The point at which autumn tips into winter.
If you touched Haiku what would it feel like? Static electricity.
What does Haiku taste like if anything? A very cold satsuma.
Where does Haiku live? Describe the environment? In a beach hut miles from the sea.
Does Haiku have a colour? Sometimes.
What are Haiku’s best features? Honesty and sharp creases.
What isn’t Haiku? Its reflection.
What does Haiku do? Leave extra coat hangers behind in hotel wardrobes.
What doesn’t Haiku do? Take off its shoes when it comes into the house.
What does Haiku see? Afterimages of objects that don’t move.
Who are Haiku’s friends? Lollipop ladies and the people who do that broom thing in competitive curling.
Where does Haiku want to go? Just over there.
What does Haiku say if anything? I think the D string’s a bit sharp.
If Haiku were an animal what would it be? A cartoon shrew with real claws.
If Haiku were a smell what is it? Tomato plants.
If Haiku wanted to try something new what would it be? Liquorice ice cream.
How does Haiku move (if at all)? In mysterious ways.
What does Haiku look like? A candlelit greenhouse in snow.
How does Haiku feel? Like a finger on the rim of a wine glass.
What does Haiku’s voice sound like? An old trout whistling a Dolly Parton tune.
4
Catherine Brennan
Haiku is Spring, learning
Strength and confidence, flowing
Energy through words
Stan Phillips
Haiku is freeze framing a visual image in words.
Laura Frances Martin
Haiku is a mini meditation on life in myriad syllables
Haiku is to language as birdsong is to the morning wood
Haiku walks with grace through the thorns of life
5
Rajeshwari Srinivasan
Season – Rain
Feellike – a Petal
Taste -. a tangy orange
Live – in mountain ranges
Color – white canvas to pour your thoughts
Feature- shortest poetry
Haiku Isn’t about hate
Haiku do – give joy
Haiku sees – the universe as one
Haikus friends – haiku poets
Haiku wants to meet nature
Haiku says – poetry is redeeming
Animal. Eagle
Smell-. Baby’s scent
Haiku will explore itself
Move like the clouds
Haiku looks like the blue sky
Haiku feels warmth of expressions
Haiku for me is like watching a butterfly visiting the blossoms at free wil
6
Lyntha Nelson
One of the questions was, “Does Haiku have friends?
This us quite silly,but I think we were given permission.
Haiku and Friends
Haiku with a friend
Underling he’ll never be
Get Acrostic out
Hope you all noticed the HUG in my silly Haiku Friend. That was planned for the new word-friends who encourage me.
Deirdre McKernan
Haiku for me is an essence of thoughts and feelings provoking thoughts and feelings.
7
Cherrie Taylor
Haiku is me
It’s you
all of us …
John Herbert
Eyes like write Haiku
Every day something new
New Haiku for you
8
Stephen Bayliss
Haiku suit all moods.
Be it poignant reflection
or just some silly fun.
There’s satisfaction,
heart’s-ease, joy and sweet release
in its brief caress.
10
Su Ryder
If Haiku were a season what would it be? Winter. Sparse but glittery.
If you touched Haiku what would it feel like? Fragile, and dewy.
What does Haiku taste like if anything? Spun sugar.
Where does Haiku live? Under a beautiful tree, which occasionally drops fruit.
Does Haiku have a colour? Blue, pink and black.
What are Haiku’s best features? Precision.
What isn’t Haiku? Arguments
What does Haiku do? It makes you strive for perfection.
What doesn’t Haiku do? Make you obsessive.
What does Haiku see? Everything
Who are Haiku’s friends? We are!
Where does Haiku want to go? Deep inside.
What does Haiku say if anything? Quiet! Stop. Think.
If Haiku were an animal what would it be? Hedgehog.
If Haiku were a smell what is it? Green shoots breaking snow.
If Haiku wanted to try something new what would it be? It wouldn’t.
How does Haiku move (if at all)? In little, delicate steps.
What does Haiku look like? Female
How does Haiku feel? Vulnerable.
11
Gemma Jayne Paine
It’s making a magical statement in a few words as possible
William Dean Ford
A thought to be aired Set free on a single breath Firefly in the void
12
Elsje Winnubst
Haiku to me captures in a few lines; a moment of grace. Emotion is distilled by releasing the pressure. The text in its simplest form unfolds what is necessary and pares down the unnecessary. As I go on it is less of a discipline and more of an art.
I am a fledgling in haiku. Every day I learn something.
If haiku was an animal it would be a cat. Walking metaphors they inhabit many worlds. they have a talent for finding their “Spot” and the mental flexibility to rotate to ever more favourable spots. The delicate balance they strike between concealing and revealing is like a haiku. Cats are compasses. Mine momentarily is at North to North East. She is always in the zone.
Wendy Houser Blomseth
Haiku is a Divining Rod that moves you forward toward self-knowledge and appreciation of nature: human nature and mother nature
I continue to quote Amita Paul who, early on, explained haiku to me as :
“Lost within
Those ineffable thoughts
Become Haiku ”
Poet, Amita Paul, Patna, India, 2020
13
Vijay Prasad
Lakshmi Lyer
all that I can
show not tell …
haiku dialogue
builds a corridor
amongst all of us
Oz Hardwick
Pedants tell Haiku,
“You’re not what you claim to be.”
Haiku says, “Get stuffed.”
Nicole Mautz
Reading and/or writing a haiku is sharing moments of our lives, our experiences and our perceptions.
14
Keith Evetts
haiku
who knew
what’s within you
15
Sarah Davies
The turn from midwinter to Spring
A delicate, spiked object, sharp yet smooth
Lemon after freshly cleaned teeth
Lives in a glass case, edged with gold, placed in a forest
The white of spaceship interiors
The asymmetry of its face
Washing machine manuals
Makes a man walk with a lopsided gait, 5 7 5
Know how to ride a new bicycle
Other newborn lines, squealing and kicking
The neat children in the class, but also the child running in circles through daisies
Home, but at a tangent
Little, but what it says is cool
A particular, clean bird on an elegant branch, perhaps clockwork
Smells of fresh pressed rose heads
Not itself, but itself
On tip toes, like a tiger
Something impossible for a sketch artist to draw
Happy but also, like bone China
What building would haiku be?
What drink would haiku be?
What would haiku work as?
Haiku Is a turn, spiked lemon, forest spaceship, asymmetry machine, man bicycle, newborn daisies, home but cool, clean clockwork head, itself a tiger, impossible happy, temple, lemonade magician
Haiku has just the right number of lines and syllables, but it won’t tell you what they are.
16
David DeNavarro
Haiku is a word-art form that endeavors to use words to go beyond words. It is a word-art form that takes few words to express itself, and millions of words to talk about it.
Of course this isn’t all that haiku is, for haiku is everything that it is and nothing that it isn’t. It is far more than what we could ever say about it, yet far less than what we often do say about it. Haiku is.
If you haven’t tried the creative quest into haiku yet please do. Get up close and personal with haiku and share your thoughts here.
Links:
Alan’s Haiku Journey on Japanese Television NHK World https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3VS36AGVI6s
Amazement of the ordinary- life through a haiku lens: Alan Summers TEDX
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LxLTiR7AKDE
David DeNavarro website: https://allauthor.com/author/denavarro/
23 Comments on “Conversation 35: HAIKU – WHO ARE YOU?”
I have written a few
haiku on haiku
and here they are
(Amanda asked me to…)
Haiku on haiku
this haiku
is but one half – the other half
is you
Japanese haiku
Why write one hundred verses
When three lines will do
broken in two
the parts fit without glue –
haiku
Haiku will not do
for poems like Hiawatha
but it is quicker
Masters of haiku
insist the art form must not
be didactic
In contemplation
focus your mind on a bar
a haiku walks in
haiku perfection
completely ruined by one
excess syllable?
Japanese foresight –
haiku form is perfectly
suited to Twitter
the roots of haiku
are nourished by humour –
the devout forget
farewell old swallow
we’ll see you again next year
haiku will follow
taught by the masters
you learn to imitate them
but can you be them?
a dusty classroom
the soul of haiku pining
skylarks sing outside
M’Lord this haiku
stands before you convicted
caught with no kigo
pray for the haiku
charged with excess syllables
a reduced sentence
to write this haiku
must wait until I attend
the call of Nature
when you boil it down
the liquid thought of haiku
can evaporate
old haiku – grasping
the handrail of procedure
to keep a balance
young haiku – twinkling
a dragonfly shimmering
a river chuckling
Japanese haiku –
no reason to rhyme. We have
no reason not to
————-
the art of haiku
takes common experience
to open reflection
no trick is needed
magic within all of us
needs only a focus
yet some devotees
worship the form of the art
instead of the art
sketch in a setting
select any nice insect
invite the reader
on a leaf
falling
a ladybird…
————
there is seasoning –
four seasons in one haiku
would crash the system
with each new haiku
dawns a hope of redemption –
ephemerally
Degree in Haiku
with Higher Origami?
You must be barmy!
—————-
gimme a haiku
with attitude – anything
but lank platitude
on painted horses
carousel of bounding clichés
our poems riding
the haiku police
flag me down – no kigo – they have
a seasonal word
trouble with wordclouds
they are quite woolly really
nothing substantial
that fellow Basho
well worth reading his output –
haiku are lovely
five, seven, five – oh
a syllable missing – oh
what shall we do – oh!
why on earth should we
think Japanese characters
fit into our words?
that man Issa
few short words
your soul, singing
———-
haiku –
tiny Japanese shoe
binding thoughts
effort of haiku
really too much trouble
a tanka will do
house of the sixth sense
where dwells haiku – there is room
for barefoot poets
Bashō’s opinion:
five in a life would be good
ten you’re a master
if you write a poem
it is not haiku but then
they are what they are
poisoned by cliché
choked by sentiment, haiku
dead on arrival
—
this is the rhythm
haiku keep – after a while
you may fall asleep
ti-dum, ti-dum, ti-
dum-ti-di-dum-ti-di-dum
ti-dum, ti-di, dum
———–
Keith you are insatiable, on an insane creative high, haiku-mentalist and haiku-mental, guru, tastemaker, Keith the King of Haiku and the Anserine inventor and maker. It’s biblical! Clickncollect haiku here!
Five. Seven. Five. Done?
It’s more than arithmetic:
a thin reed quivers.
Here’s a few of mine. I was on the lighter side of haiku on this day.
Fun in many ways
A true friend with great advice
Helps me clearly see
*******
She’s full of surprise
Takes me up and down the trail
Points out what I missed
*****
A lifeline at times
A friend who likes to bug me
I love her so much
*****
If you don’t watch out
She’ll have you waking up to
Another haiku
*****
she’s my muse … my tease
she messes with my mind, and
she thinks she’s funny
Love these haiku haiku Connie and as a reply to your last line ‘then she makes me cry’. She is a tease, and she is a she to me too. I love the various personifications. Now I am thinking what sort of she, some days she is that truculent teen, others the old grand dame sniping from the side, then the gentle, shy twenty-something finding her way in the world and of course the screaming baby-girl who just wants what she wants when she wants it! Thank you for sharing these Connie, you are a star. If Keith is the King of Haiku today you are its Queen.
five seasons
each one its own mood
time travels
brushing my skin
haiku leave
their long-lasting mark
bitter-sweet
the taste of haiku
after they vanished
everywhere
and within
a haiku
black and white
haiku mixing
all colours
haiku
flows inward
and out
out of nothingness
haiku lies
in everything
awareness
haiku tell me
I am alive
haiku does nothing
but it floats nearby
haiku doesn’t see
it is sight
itself
haiku has no friends
but it is
our friend
haiku doesn’t want to go
it is everywhere
haiku doesn’t talk
we are translators
all animals belong to haiku
haiku loves all animals
unknown fragrance
haiku smells
all the smells
haiku doesn’t try
and doesn’t succeed either
haiku moves like a river flows
haiku is like the New Moon
it looks like nothing but it is something
haiku feel like bliss
This haiku sequence in response to the haiku questions is so philosophical and dare I say so haiku. It comes close to David DeNavarro’s observation that ends my sample within the blog ‘Haiku is’. This is of course where the tantalising nature of haiku resides and both excites and perhaps torments us or at the very least creates a gnawing anxiety. I love these bite-sized gems of haiku observations that are sensory and thoughtful, quiet and expansive. A favourite
out of nothingness
haiku lies
in everything
Always amazed by your analyses Amanda. You make me realise something new about my own writing each time. Thank you.
Sebastien, you continue to inspire me with your wonderful haiku! You always go a little deeper and richer in your vision when I read yours. Thank you.
Thank you Connie. I’m glad you are enjoying my writing. It is the best compliment if it can inspire you. Now I will go and look at your writing !
Questions stolen for contrapuntal poem
If Haiku were a season what would it be?
When snow is melting
If you touched Haiku what would it feel like?
Becoming slippery wet
What does Haiku taste like if anything?
Polluted waters
Where does Haiku live? Describe the environment?
Minimlist rooms
Does Haiku have a colour?
Painted white as expected
What are Haiku’s best features?
Gloss shining brightly
What isn’t Haiku?
These rooms are not lost
What does Haiku do?
They reverberate with love
What doesn’t Haiku do?
It doesn’t give up
What does Haiku see?
See what’s going on
Who are Haiku’s friends?
Between a couple in love
Where does Haiku want to go?
Looking to feel free
What does Haiku say if anything?
Singing sweet love songs
If Haiku were an animal what would it be?
Boasting of pride in lions
If Haiku were a smell what is it?
Spanish Harlem roses
If Haiku wanted to try something new what would it be?
Adventures still there
How does Haiku move (if at all)?
Waiting in the still of life
What does Haiku look like?
Clearly envisaged
When snow is melting is the perfect haiku season it evokes its history and context, but also the in-between nature of haiku, its transience, seasonal shifts, quixotic, brief, cold clear moments… Such a vivid creative response Richard brimming with sensory joy, your Spanish Harlem roses are something I want to experience right now. Bravo.
Here are some of my latest haiku shared in the Daily Haiku group on FB:
old pavement fissure…
a wayward seedling finds light
at the crack of dawn
green memories…
gnarled brown branches
laden with snow
a wild goat’s red eyes
stare through the fence I leapt…
thwarted headbutt
a crumb of cheddar
lodged in my gray beard…
better with age
a forgotten field
of tall grasses and ragworts…
stones six feet apart
overcast morning…
the pristine silence flees from
a flock of robins
winter’s stealthy winds
invade through cabin windows…
night sparrows blow in
such mighty portals
to all ages and places…
each book a journey
grinding herbs
for a slow-cooked curry…
thyme on my hands
through driving rain
the sound of a woodwind…
distant saxophone
halfway between
this life and haiku…
my journey
gathering in heat
the Tabasco crab boil…
cold beer in hand
making puddles…
a dog pees in the rain
against a wall
way up in a palm
I see a distant island
eating dates
dancing
with mushrooms in moonlight…
a fun guy
a weather addict’s
new mixed methodology…
rum Rainmakers
native windsong
a flute’s carved eagles
soar in “C”
Jupiter Saturn
a socially distanced world
joins together
that rose granite stone
kicked home on my walk
rests under yarrows
I trip
over stars on a path
looking up
What a beautiful sequence. There is something super meditative about reading a haiku sequence. I love it. I pause at each haiku and soak it up. The final haiku is a trip in all ways – so immediate, it encompasses the personal and the eternal, the pure joy of a bright night of stars. February is the month. Thank you for this treat.
Haiku is a hawk
Still as a picture, hovering
In a cold clear sky
How stunning this is Teresa. Yes Haiku is a hawk still as a picture, hovering in a cold clear sky. Utterly perfect. I really think you have found the essence of haiku here. It took me the moments of on my daily walks I spot a buzzard and am transfixed by its power, presence and beauty, often it is waiting on top of a telegraph wire patiently scanning the field for its prey. Waiting to drop in an instance for the kill. Is that what we do with a killer haiku? Once in a while that’s how it feels when it hits the spot, like the centre of a tennis racket, a shared joke, singing in the shower….
Since I had already sent a few haiku here, I wasn’t going to send my answers to the above questions, but I’ve been asked to so here they are.
answers to Conversation 35: Haiku-Who Are You?
1) If haiku were a season what would it be? Haiku would be the 5th season
2) If you touched haiku what would it feel like? She would be like silk, it would slip through my fingers if not held just right
3) What does haiku taste like? A single drop of honey on the tongue that you let sit and dissolve and feel her nutrients feeding the whole body
4) Where does haiku live? Haiku has no home. She’s a bit of a wanderer, but always available if and when you need her.
5) Does haiku have a color? Haiku is like a mood ring and ‘uses’ all colors depending which one is needed at the time
6) What are haiku’s best features? Humor and enlightenment
7) What isn’t haiku? Haiku isn’t, … only if you don’t want her to be
8) What does haiku do? Haiku waits … patiently. Every once in a while there’s a slight tap on the shoulder.
9) What doesn’t haiku do? Doesn’t stay around long after she’s done her duty although sometimes after one of her haiku, there comes another and another. She can be manic at times, but I’ve never heard her scream. I have had her be annoying because she believes she has purpose, and between you and me, I think she does, too!
10) What does haiku see? Haiku sees … oh yes! She sees Everything!!
11 & 12) Who are haiku’s friends? Haiku makes friends everywhere/anywhere/anytime. She’s Always present
13) What does haiku say if anything? She’s more of a whisper. You have to be very quiet to hear her. Lots of stuff. She says lots of stuff!!
14) If Haiku were an animal what would it be? Her animal spirit is love and acceptance … so whatever animal she looks like to you is what she will be. She morphs. She’s pretty amazing!
15) What does haiku smell like? Haiku smells like a waterfall’s mist
16) If Haiku wanted to try something new what would it be? Haiku is always trying something new. I guess if she wanted to try something new she would use more adverbs and verbs just so she wouldn’t look like such a wizard! She’s still trying to teach me.
17) How does Haiku move (if at all)? Haiku is very still, and she waits for the brain and heart to come to her and then she gets ready for the pen and paper to go to work.
18) What does haiku look like? She’s beautiful … looks like love and kindness
19) How does haiku feel? Haiku feels wonderful like a long lost friend you haven’t talked to in years and has so much to tell you.
One sentence from my point of view…
“Haiku is my ride … my vehicle on an excited path … bicycling through the deeper parts of the woods”
Hi, Connie, I enjoyed your light-hearted vision of haiku and the fact that you call it a “she” when in French we say “un haiku” masculine. Yin Yang is the key I guess as much as Zen. Haiku morphs as you say…
Thank you so much, Sebastien. I so enjoy your haiku and your continuing to educate us with the original haiku masters. This is a wonderfully diverse group and I’m so glad I discovered it.
My sentence to describe haiku.
haiku is magic, it can be pulled from thin air, it is life-affirming and a Goddess for all seasons; she is nature, inspiring, in all her glory and many guises, rainbow-coloured, a beautiful dancer who extends friendship to all.
Anserine 4
haiku is evolving
slowly, it is magic, life-
affirming, it inspires
affirming, it inspires,
the Goddess for all seasons;
beautiful dancer
beautiful dancer
she is nature in all her
glory, all weathers
glory, all weathers,
all guises, extends friendship
comes from the fresh air
comes from the fresh air,
like sparkling dew on cut grass,
affirming, it inspires
affirming, it inspires,
rainbow colours; shimmering gold,
haiku is evolving.
©🦊VixenOfVerse, 2021.
Haiku tastes like music,
an explosion of stillness,
red roses on snow.
Mostly a haiku takes a lot of crafting, Ananda, but sometimes one lands unexpectedly! 🙂
blank page
a visiting robin
gifts a haiku
And here is a link to the resulting haiku inspired by the event … http://neverendingstoryhaikutanka.blogspot.com/2014/11/butterfly-dream-robin-haiku-by-marion.html?m=1
To me, haiku is a 575 tin in which to compress one of those surprise exploding snakes.