Haiku
and tanka
about living in the present
about the time of the year
about love and other important things in life
About writing a haiku. Links
If you haven't got the slightest
clue what the text in the rest of this site means (which, by the way, is in
Swedish), donīt panic. Write a haiku or honku yourself.
|
|
Some
of my haiku
The sarcasm
is better to keep
at the tip of the tongue
Swirl of golden dust, the street-sweeping machine works in early spring beam. The cars doesnīt bother me as I feel joy in my heart.
Tears in her eyes,
she says
"It must have been the wind"
Nude in the window.
She sees the moonlight
connects us lonely souls

(Haiku in Swedish)
How to write
Haiku
It often contains 17 syllables in a set form per line of 5, 7, 5.
It expresses an emotion associated with the seasons of the year/focuses on nature
It depicts a spiritual insight and meaning for the reader.
The falling flower
I saw drift back to the branch
was a butterfly
Tranlated by Babette Deutsch
This is an example of how season can be implied, rather than strictly
stated, i.e. butterfly = spring.
Senryu, also called human haiku, is usually written in the present tense and only references to some aspect of
human nature or emotions. They possess no references to the natural world and thus stand out from nature/seasonal haiku.
My honku
Suddenly awake
honksound in the silent night -
end of footballmatch
Canīt participate
Hear the echoes in my brain -
soon Monday morning
By Karin April 21, 2002
What is a honku?
Aaron Naparstek, New York, gets mad when people honk incessantly in his residential Brooklyn neighborhood.
Really mad. But how to get even? When egg-throwing proved ineffective, he turned to an ancient
Japanese art form. Now the whole neighborhood seems to be doing it.
Listen to Aaron here, (Real audio)
Read about honku here, www.honku.org on Aarons homepage.
|