It could be spring or the announcement of the Cherry Blossom festival in Washington D.C. or a distracted mind, but I have been thinking of haiku lately, traditional Japanese poetry of 17 syllables.
Japanese culture has strict rules about haiku, including that each haiku contain a seasonal word, a "cutting" where the poem moves abruptly from scene to thought, and that each haiku follows the 5-7-5 pattern of syllables per line. This is what happens when a nerdy mind wanders.
Growing up, I had a lot of practice with writing haiku. It was not my favorite form of self expression. The rules always felt like constraints to me – being of a more "freestyle" nature.
But lately, the idea of having boundaries and convention has taken a different sheen to me. One thing that has always appealed to me is how haiku celebrates the ordinary. Traditional haiku respects "the importance of the poet's first impression, just as it was, of subjects taken from daily life, and of local color to create freshness." (www.toyomasu.com/haiku)
A ChristianHaiku.com exists as well as a site devoted to hymns of haiku worship featuring the craft of a Japanese Episcopal priest with "Iron" for a pen-name. "Iron" wrote the following haiku that was featured in Time Magazine, March 15, 1963.
At Morning Mass
The water has lost its chill:
Lent has come.
You'll find all sorts of haiku sites out there featuring the Torah in haiku, Haiku for kids, and even beer company contests featuring this traditional art form.
So here goes, a few painfully rookie haiku to encourage your own haiku.
going down in fiery flames –
where nerd brains wander
starry starry night
a heart bent low in prayer;
God is listening
Yo chupacabra!
wander from the petaled street
find Sasquatch in trees
joy has found me yet
my heart had almost despaired
no more winter soul
look for unseen God
listen to spring rain for clues
He waits your noticing
I've read that Japanese culture prizes haiku and folks will sit and ponder and haiku for hours. Something poetic that strengthens the muscle of memory and cognition? Sounds lovely.
Post your haiku if you've got them – I would love to celebrate the mental poetic gymnastics with you. Feel free to have fun. Please just keep it G-rated. I blush far too easily for anything else.
