When I did a Live Search (yes, Live Search … www.live.com … you don’t really think I would use Google, do you???) to confirm that the plural of haiku is indeed haiku, I discovered that I was missing some key aspects of this type of verse:
| 1. | a major form of Japanese verse, written in 17 syllables divided into 3 lines of 5, 7, and 5 syllables, and employing highly evocative allusions and comparisons, often on the subject of nature or one of the seasons. |
Hey! I should be saying something about nature. Maybe even doing the allusion thing.
I’ll have to work on that.
Here’s some quick practice:
A drop of water
Piercing lake’s surface, once still
Now undulating
The middle line is challenging. Maybe it would be be better
The glass lake’s surface, once still
More allusive but redundant. Maybe
Piercing the glass lake surface
But then the element of time is gone, making the last line awkward. I kind of like it, though, so I’ll change the last line, and then I have to get back to work.
A drop of water
Piercing the glass lake surface
Wavy reflections
Didn’t quite make it, but hey, it’s just practice. Haiku is fun! It’s poetry that can be completed in 5 minutes …