haiku – sanctuary for the weary wordsmith

With my pocket knife / I cut a haiku open / and shake out the words   (Roary at CoyoteSings)

Maybe it’s because I’m in the middle of a novel. A fat, sloppy, greasy novel that boasts of 236 pages in desperate need of fixing, rewriting, hacking back, and filling in. And I feel like I’ve been working on it forever. And the end is no where in sight…

Maybe that’s why I’ve taken such a liking to haikus.

When my brain is mush, and I feel like all my endless word spinning may be in vain, and what am I even doing working with words? Maybe words aren’t even my thing! Maybe I suck at words! – That’s when it’s nice to take a break. Clear my mind. And focus on 17 syllables.

17 syllables, and I’m done. Finished. One whole piece. Born. Completed. Something that wasn’t there before, now created.

It’s a breath of fresh air.

To my husband, it’s a crock of crap. He thinks they suck. Not just mine. All of them. He thinks they’re stupid. Still, I made him write one, and he doesn’t know it, but I’m going to share it here:

*******

Heat is sweltering

The soft flesh is now melting

My mind is at sea

*******

I think it’s pretty great. He says it’s total BS and means nothing at all.

Now it’s my turn:

*******

 

Black sky, quiet house.

I ignore the day’s messes.

My mind wants to roam.

 

*******

 

Small seed, it seems dead.

Pushed into vast earth, swallowed-

This must be it’s end…

 

*******

 

I’m a butterfly-

Wings like paper, yet strong to fly

Thousands of miles.

 

*******

I really like those last two. Okay, your turn. Leave a haiku in the comments! 5 syllables in the first line, 7 in the next, then 5 again in the last. And you can give or take a few if you’re writing in English. For some reason, this is okay. But if you’re going to put it down in Japanese, sorry, you’ve got to stick to the rules.

Dad, you’re gonna take me up on this, right?

*******

Advertisements