7 days - 7 poems - Day 3

So I figured why not get the haiku stuff out of the way today. I might have saved them for an emergency later in the week, but what's poetry about if not living on the edge?

Below I have some haiku and various forms of waka. Waka just means 'Japanese poetry'. I'll label the different forms and if anyone is interested the above links can give more details.

I wrote all these in the laundromat just now and by the end all my thoughts were being divided into syllable compartments. That has now stopped.

Also, although I vaguely recalled nature needs some role in a proper haiku I assumed the 5-7-5 pattern was pretty standard and mandatory. It is not. Just like so much else in poetry there has been a lot of changes in the past few decades. Syllables, structure, etc. Read about it to your heart's content here.

I didn't realize that though, so I've followed the 5-7-5 form and whatever other structures seemed standard. Also, I've said whatever the heck I want below. Nature be damned!

Although...I might take advantage of that loophole, research haiku more closely and come back later in the week with some gang-buster, nature stuff.

Haiku

I wanted to use

'articulated lorry'

in a haiku. Done!

---

Tanka ('short poem')

I could have gotten

away with one of these poems

for today, but that

seems to go against, if not

the letter, then the spirit.

---

Chōka ('long poem')

The danger with these

forms of poetry is that

the syllable game

takes precedence and I miss

opportunities

for creative bull-kaka.

(Note the lack of swears here mum.)

---

Sedōka ('whirling head poem')

In space, no one can

hear you scream. In Hawaii,

the word aloha means both

hello and goodbye.

The former from a poster.

The latter from Inessa.

---

Katauta ('poem fragment')

You think this is half

a sedōka? Speak to the

Japanese man with the sword.

---

Bussokusekika (something to do with the silhouette of the Buddha's feet)

I want to find the

best five syllable first line,

secret it away,

then reveal its existence

once I am Prime Minister.

That'll surprise everyone.

---

And more haiku...

Hey you! Sean Chambers.

This is me declaring a

haiku war. Go time!

If a t-shirt makes

friends with jeans in the dryer

it stays wet longer.

(p.s. - I'm going to post two more poems in a bonus post, but I'm saying this here in case people only visit this page and don't go to the main blog)