So, one of our multitude of assignments this week was to write some Haikus. My God but they're fun. I'd never used the form before but its blissful - the constraints it places upon both subject matter and structure are challenging but not onerous. Here's the full set of rules, as far as I can remember-
3 Lines
Syllabels - 5, 7, 5
Imagery - Two images, one short and the other enduring. Must be very vivid and visual. They must be linked, but how they are linked is up to the reader to decipher.
Subject matter - Any, but should convey a spiritual revelation onto the reader
Seasonal and nature imagery is popular
I've split up what I've written into traditional Haikus, and short poems with the same syllabic structure but which aren't Haikus
More traditional
Motorway black ice -
The warm family car lulls
Summer strawberries,
Frost on the bedroom window,
The wind catches dead leaves;
A red child's bicycle stands
The television
Blares static and health-food ads:
The park bench is cold:
Two old men sit down and watch
A single lily
Wilts on the wood, very white.
A straight edged razor
Rests on a coffee table,
Yet flowers still grow
The funeral band pass,
Slowly - my son reaches out.
The king walks alone,
Down to the sea. He stands -
A curled up body
With a tiny heart - waiting?
Less traditional
Stiletto heels, whips,
And chains - the sun is setting -
Black silk slips away,
Showing fair hair and white skin.
Warmth grows against flesh
We sit, two old priests,
A Rabbhi, and a rapist,
My mother lies, dead,
Waiting for something: it's there,
My father cries, cries.
I don't cry. I never cry.
Little, pluck guitar,
Just pluck guitar, little, just
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