Flickr CC-BY devosdelphin
While I’ve never been an avid reader of poetry or haiku, earlier this month I set myself the challenge of writing a haiku every day. I suppose my lack of interest in these writing forms comes down to two reasons: the schoolboy opinion that it was uncool or unmanly (yet I did not apply this measure to prose) and not having had a great deal of exposure to it.
It was only when I reached my twenties that I began reading poetry for pleasure, and that was because it moved me deeply. Foremost were the works of the poet soldier Rupert Brooke (The Soldier affects me with each reading) and then Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, probably best known for The Song of Hiawatha. I still don’t read much poetry, but at least I no longer automatically disregard it.
If you are interested — and like reading on your computer or have an ebook reading device — their respective complete poetical works are now in the public domain and can be found at the simply brilliant Project Gutenberg in various formats:
- EText 262: The Collected Poems of Rupert Brooke
- EText 1365: The Complete Poems of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
Over the years I have discovered that I do quite enjoy writing poetry, particularly the short and simple linguistic challenge of writing haiku. So as a way to exercise another aspect of my writing, I’ve decided to practice writing haiku (and maybe even poetry as time progresses). But rather than only posting them to Twitter, as I have been doing, I’ll post them here instead. Not only will it keep this site ticking over while I’m finding my feet as a ‘blogging writer,’ but it will keep it all in one place that belongs to me.
My understanding of Haiku is that it is a 17 syllable grouping of 5/7/5, with punctuation or pause wherever you decide (if at all). I have seen even this basic ‘rule’ broken beyond comprehension on the Twitter #haiku hashtag, but that’s what art is all about, I suppose!
So without further waffle, here’s today’s haiku:
Now the snow has gone,
a beautiful sunny week.
Snow is forecast soon.
It should be recognisable to anyone familiar with recent UK weather. After the worst snow since the winter of 1962-63 the snow has almost thawed off the ground, though there are piles of it all still about (and my hamstrings and lower back have only just recovered from shovelling a great deal of it). The Met Office say it’s coming back later this week. Oh well, what can you do?
Please let me know if you like them, or indeed if you have any opinions or constructive criticism.
