Tuesday, May 23, 2006

Haiku

I’m going to be teaching a literature course in the fall, my first ever. It’s been years (none of your business how many) since I earned my masters degree in lit, so I’ve been brushing up a bit. In reading about the poetry genre, I came across the descriptions for haikus, and remembered the haiku poems our teacher had us write in fifth grade. Well, I don’t remember the poems themselves, but in general I remember how much fun they were. Haikus are often like photographs of a moment, captured in present tense word choices. They follow a five-seven-five syllable pattern.

So, just for the heck of it, here are some “picture poems” (as I like to call them) I came up with today.


Haiku #1
A black and white dog
lying helpless and trusting
with his legs spread wide.

Haiku #2
Reaching for ketchup
in the back of the Kenmore.
There isn’t any.

Haiku #3
The scent of mangos
Papayas sweet and shiny
I prefer oranges.


Let’s see some of yours!

TJB

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Here's a few -

Under new green grass
The toy soldiers lay broken
Missing little hands

Excited babble
City kids in the country
Nature at their feet

Looking in my heart
Trying to find one more time
The authentic me

--I went on a haiku/senyru (?) kick in 2000 - wrote a lot of them, lol!

Hugs you!

Christine

TJ Bennett said...

Those are lovely! Thanks for playing.

Hugs you back,
TJB

Kate Willoughby said...

GMTA! I've been posting the occasional haiku on my blog. :D Here's one from my holiday newsletter:

Date night with hubby
While two sons remain at home
Ah, the ecstasy

TJ Bennett said...

Love it!

TJB