A Melbourne winter Haiku

In the park,
Boys play kick to kick -
Fallen leaves.



This was written as an experiment with the haiku form, which traditionally:
  • Consists of three lines of 5/7/5 phonetic units, or morae (which only partially correspond to the syllables in English)
  • Contains a seasonal reference (the kigo)
  • Features a kire, the so-called cut or breaking word (here signified by the dash, as English doesn't have kire), signifying a shift in perspective.
Some modern practioners of strict Haiku, as opposed to freeform Haiku (such as those written by Kerouac) propose that, as morae are not syllables per se, English language haiku should consist of 3/5/3 word patterns, to capture the sparse nature of some classic Japanese haiku. Thus the above attempt at a contemporary haiku, inspired by walking through the Fitzroy Gardens to the MCG.

And here's a different example of a contemporary haiku, from Modern Haiku (Vol.37.1):

funeral home
here too
she straightens his tie

- Roberta Beary

Comments

mskp said…
those haikus are lovely, richardwatts. the last one stopped the breath in my throat for just a second. there's real beauty in something that is so simple but able to convey complexity.

ta!
13/6/06 19:12
Anonymous said…
I wrote a Haiku the other day... What is it about winter and haikus?

Here it is:

I want to live like Anais Nin
Over the edge of things
and in a portrait.
17/6/06 18:02
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