Poets and Poems: Steven Flint Embraces Haikus

Just by the sound of the word, we know that the poetry form of haiku originated in Japan. Originally, it wasn’t a standalone form but rather the opening (hokku) of a larger poem. Over time, it began to be used as a poem in and of itself. The form uses three lines of poetry, 17 syllables in all, in a 5-7-5 structure.  

One of its best-known practitioners was the Japanese poet Matsuo Basho (1644-1694). He often employed a kireji, a “cutting” word (we might say “centering”) and a seasonal reference, called a kigo.

 

Traditionalists will argue that haiku poems should be about nature, but once the form reached English and other languages, the range of themes expanded accordingly. Today, a poem on whatever subject is called a haiku if it follows the 5-7-5 syllable structure.

 

I’d been charmed by the fable The Sun and the Boy by poet Steven Flint, and I decided to take a look at his poetry. What I discovered was that he had more than 30 collections of haiku. I read three of them, and I find myself equally charmed.

To continue reading, please see my post today at Tweetspeak Poetry.

Some Tuesday Readings

 

Finding Meaning in the Madness of War – Phil Klay at The Free Press.

 

Lifeboat – poem by Franco Amati at Garbage Notes.

 

“What the Thrush Said,” poem by John Keats – Sally Thomas at Poems Ancient and Modern.

 

Graduation – poem by Pasquale Trozzolo at Every Day Poems.

 

Parable of the Interior – poem by Scott Cairns at Rabbit Room Poetry.

Poets and Poems: Emily Patterson and “Haiku at 5:38 a.m.”

The simplest form of poetry, and, indeed, one of the simplest forms of all written communication, is the haiku. Derived from the Japanese hokku, it became a serious art form in the hands of the Japanese poet Bashō (1644-1694). The traditional form of a haiku is three lines of 5-7-5 syllables. Originally, it was confined to observations of nature, and while that’s still a common subject today, we use the form to describe all kinds of themes and subjects. 

Like to describe each hour of the day. That’s how poet and writer Emily Patterson uses the haiku in Haiku at 5:38 a.m. In her collection of 24 poems, she has one haiku for each hour of the day. 

To continue reading, please see my post today at Tweetspeak Poetry.

Some Tuesday Readings

 

The Future of Book Publicity, Part 1 – Kathleen Schmidt at Publishing Confidential.

 

Roads, Dead Ends, and Endings – Nadya Williams at Current Magazine.

 

Notre-Dame restoration reveals Renaissance poet’s coffin – Hugh Schofield at BBC. 

 

Why Chinchilla is My Favorite Fur – prose poem by Tina Barry at Every Day Poems.

 

It Happens to Those Who Live Alone – poem by David Whyte.

Poets and Poems: Julien Vocance and “One Hundred Visions of War”

I’ll be honest here. I thought I knew, or was at least aware of, the major poets, British or otherwise, of World War I. I was wrong. I’d never heard of the poet Julien Vocance. One black eye for me.  

He wasn’t just another war poet. Vocance did something that no one had done before. He used the haiku form of poetry to help him understand what he’d experienced in the Great War. And it was his work, collected as One Hundred Visions of War, that first popularized the writing of haiku.

 

Perhaps that’s two black eyes for me – one for not knowing Vocance, and one for not knowing how the haiku form moved into Western culture.

To continue reading, please see my post today at Tweetspeak Poetry.

Poets and Poems: Sydell Rosenberg & Amy Losak and “Wing Strokes Haiku”

Sometimes, the back story can be important, especially in poetry. 

In 1968, Sydell Rosenberg was one of the founding members of the Haiku Society of America, designed to promote the writing and appreciation of haiku in English. The haiku form of poetry emerged in 17^th century Japan, and its basic element – three lines arranged in 5, 7, and 5 syllables, respectively. It was originally called a hokku; the term “haiku” wasn;t used until the 19^th century. And the theme of the haiku – about one of the seasons – had to be strictly observed. The poet with whom haiku is most closely associated is Basho (1644-1694).

 

Rosenberg was an active member of the Haiku Society of America, which sponsors annual competitions for haiku, renku, senryu, and haibun forms of poetry. It holds an annual conference and publishes the literary journal Frogpond.

To continue reading, please see my post today at Tweetspeak Poetry.

All I Want for Christmas is a Real Haiku

Cousins running wild;

aunts and uncles smile and sip

Mogen David wine.

Father bastes at stove:

turkey with oyster dressing;

Mother makes mince pie.

Aluminum tree;

color light reflector turns,

casting blue green red.

Air rifles in hand,

two boys stalk the woods seeking

unsuspecting bird.

Christmas hopes destroyed:

teacher says Santa is not.

Puppy restores faith.

Over at TweetSpeak Poetry, Seth Haines has a holiday poetry prompt – write a haiku (or two or three) about holiday memories from this time of the year (which I will call the Christmas season to my dying day, never mind all these other names we invent). I’m of two minds as to whether I write real haiku poems or not; they have the right number of syllables in each line, but I’m still not sure. They don’t seem quite haiku-ish (in fact, they read more like tabloid newspaper headlines).

Nevertheless, they represent real memories. And yes, I did get a an air rifle (we called them BB guns) one Christmas, but it wasn’t a Red Ryder. And I didn’t shoot my eye out.

These poems are also submitted for Open Mike Night at dVerse Poets. The links for all the poems submitted will be live at 2 p.m. Central time today.

Photograph by Petr Kratochvil via Public Domain Pictures. Used with permission.