Try Some Haiku

Haiku Techniques

I have always been a big fan of haiku poetry. I know from experience how understanding haiku can help us in any of our writing pieces.  If we are attentive, it teaches us to be concise, detailed, and original in the way we create imagery and deeper meaning--which is so important when trying to engage our readers attention and imagination. Try to write at least six haiku using the three different techniques I describe below.

Oftentimes, I write a haiku which then "evolves" into a longer narrative poem--and that's great, too! In fact, the term haiku is derived from the word "Hai" which means "insightful,"  and the term "Ku," which means "fun." (Or something very close to that.) For my purposes, Haiku are poems of 20 syllables or less constructed in three lines using an images, actions, and a cutting element (usually a punctuation mark that sets up the twist)  that separates the  haiku into two sections.  This might not be the definition you know, but it is the one we will use for the haiku we create.  It is not a bad idea to stay close to the traditional 5-7-5 syllable scheme, but it is certainly not the end and be all of "effective haiku."   Only a pedant (very boring person) is going to sit there and count syllables on you.  A good haiku has neither too little or too much, and it just feels like a haiku when you read it or hear it. It makes you want to say, "Ahhhhh ku..."

Here are my three Haiku Techniques: (Though there are many others as well!)

1. Technique # 1:Image and action + cool twist: See the description below

In her nest of grass
The robin sleeps all day;
It must be Sunday.
     ~fitz

1. Technique # 2: Image on Image + Cool Twist or Thought: Juxtapose images + actions that helps us see those images in a new and interesting way: This is what we discussed in class where you use "prepositions" to place two images in relation to each other, and then you add an action that adds some kind of cool twist--as in my poem above, or this final haiku that might also go with the scene from chapter ten.

Outside the bombed cottage
the old soldier smiles
and flips the pancakes.

     -fitz

Technique #3: Big to small, and small to big: "Give me a stone and I'll show you the universe.  Show me the universe and I'll give you a stone:"

All that's left
of the long winter--
a mitten in the daffodils
~fitz

Here is a way to practice technique #1:

First create a series of images and actions and make the first two lines of a "potential" haiku.

    •    Nature, and especially the seasons, is the best raw material for haiku.  Go outside and watch nature.  (Yes, move away from your computer and grab a notebook and a pencil!) Find a place where you can just sit and observe what is happening around you. Whenever you "see" something happening, write down that image and action using only nouns and verbs--and occasionally a necessary adjective, and rarely an adverb! The most common sights often make for the best haiku.

For example:   

• In her nest of grass
  The robin sleeps all day

• A single earthworm
  Inches across the wet pavement

• Three painted monarchs
  Dance around a single flower

• Lightening flashes
  And distant rumbling

Next, take those images and actions and create a haiku by adding a short thought, question, or statement. In traditional haiku this is called the "cutting."  The cutting adds a "twist" into the poem and lets your reader experience the image and action in a new (and often profound--and sometimes funny) way.  A good way to set off this cutting is by adding a semi-colon, double dash or colon at the end of the first section. I generally use a semi-colon in place of a comma and conjunction (so, yet, and, or, nor, for, but).  I use a colon to introduce a statement or a list.  I use the double dash when I want to add a cool thought or sudden insight to complete the haiku.  Try to keep this line between four and seven syllables.

In her nest of grass
The robin sleeps all day;
It must be Sunday.
~fitz

A single earthworm
Inches across the wet pavement:
Stop the speeding car?
~fitz

Three painted monarchs
Dance around a single flower--
Sweet waiting nectar!
~fitz

Lightening flashes
And vague distant rumbling:
Somebody's getting wet.
~fitz

These may not be the greatest haiku in the world, but I hope you get the basic idea of what I want you to try to do.  The important part of this exercise is to practice creating images and actions using nouns and verbs and essential adjectives. By adding the cutting I want you to see that even the most common of experiences can have profound and unique meaning.

Here is a way to practice technique #2:

First you need to create juxtaposed images--especially if the images are "out of place"--that are connected with a prepositional phrase.

For example:

• The rubber ball
  in the new snow

• A dark puddle
  on the dry street

• On a withered branch
  the black crow

Now add an action of some sort  to the beginning or the end that helps add a new dimension and twist to the images and so create a haiku:

The rubber ball
in the new snow
will soon be lost
~fitz

When will the kids find
the dark puddle
on this dry street?
~fitz

On his long grey branch
the black crow
waits all day.
~fitz

Here is a way to practice technique #3:

The technique of expanding or narrowing is effective in all types of writing. To use this technique to create haiku you simply need to start with either a big or a small image.

For example:

• The last oak leaf [small

• The moon in the night sky

Now expand upon or narrow down the image:

Yesterday's winds:
strong enough to carry away
the last oak leaf.
~fitz

The moon in the night sky
walks with me
down this wet road.
~fitz

Here is a way to practice technique #1:

First create a series of images and actions and make the first two lines of a "potential" haiku.

    •    Nature, and especially the seasons, is the best raw material for haiku.  Go outside and watch nature.  (Yes, move away from your computer and grab a notebook and a pencil!) Find a place where you can just sit and observe what is happening around you. Whenever you "see" something happening, write down that image and action using only nouns and verbs--and occasionally a necessary adjective, and rarely an adverb! The most common sights often make for the best haiku.

For example:   

• In her nest of grass
  The robin sleeps all day

• A single earthworm
  Inches across the wet pavement

• Three painted monarchs
  Dance around a single flower

• Lightening flashes
  And distant rumbling

Next, take those images and actions and create a haiku by adding a short thought, question, or statement. In traditional haiku this is called the "cutting."  The cutting adds a "twist" into the poem and lets your reader experience the image and action in a new (and often profound--and sometimes funny) way.  A good way to set off this cutting is by adding a semi-colon, double dash or colon at the end of the first section. I generally use a semi-colon in place of a comma and conjunction (so, yet, and, or, nor, for, but).  I use a colon to introduce a statement or a list.  I use the double dash when I want to add a cool thought or sudden insight to complete the haiku.  Try to keep this line between four and seven syllables.

In her nest of grass
The robin sleeps all day;
It must be Sunday.
~fitz

A single earthworm
Inches across the wet pavement:
Stop the speeding car?
~fitz

Three painted monarchs
Dance around a single flower--
Sweet waiting nectar!
~fitz

Lightening flashes
And vague distant rumbling:
Somebody's getting wet.
~fitz

These may not be the greatest haiku in the world, but I hope you get the basic idea of what I want you to try to do.  The important part of this exercise is to practice creating images and actions using nouns and verbs and essential adjectives. By adding the cutting I want you to see that even the most common of experiences can have profound and unique meaning.

Here is a way to practice technique #2:

First you need to create juxtaposed images--especially if the images are "out of place"--that are connected with a prepositional phrase.

For example:

• The rubber ball
  in the new snow

• A dark puddle
  on the dry street

• On a withered branch
  the black crow

Now add an action of some sort  to the beginning or the end that helps add a new dimension and twist to the images and so create a haiku:

The rubber ball
in the new snow
will soon be lost
~fitz

When will the kids find
the dark puddle
on this dry street?
~fitz

On his long grey branch
the black crow
waits all day.
~fitz

Here is a way to practice technique #3:

The technique of expanding or narrowing is effective in all types of writing. To use this technique to create haiku you simply need to start with either a big or a small image.

For example:

• The last oak leaf [small

• The moon in the night sky

Now expand upon or narrow down the image:

Yesterday's winds:
strong enough to carry away
the last oak leaf.
~fitz

The moon in the night sky
walks with me
down this wet road.
~fitz

Comments

[essay writing]

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