“Where have you been?” That is a question I have heard countless times during the months I have taken for a blog sabbatical. Was I laid up and left for vulture food by my MS? Did the Prize Patrol knock on my door to give me a million dollars and a bunch of balloons? Did the world really end ( taking only me) as some boneheads predicted by misreading the Mayan calendar? Did I go insane, committed to a padded cell to eat green jello, and given experimental medications in paper cups? Uh…no.
Well, the answer to the first question is only a partial no. I’m not buzzard bait or road kill. My MS has decided to misbehave and treat some to the nerves in my noggin as an endless buffet. But, with some different medications and time, MS will be put on a starvation diet for a while. Enough said.
All of that explaining aside, I will tell you where I’ve been. Lost. Gloriously so. I’ve been lost in a new (to me) form of poetry, which has altered and opened up many areas of my life. It has not changed my personality, but my perception. It has not changed my unemployed status, but my mental state.
I am studying, seeking and absorbing the world (genre) of haiku. I am writing haiku and have had several of my haiku published in various journals and anthologies. I’ve even been published in a local newspaper. Go figure.
Before you roll your eyes at me, let me tell you what haiku is NOT. Haiku is not your typical, middle school taught, three-line poem. It is NOT a limerick. It is NOT a rhyming little riff in a song. (Yes, I’ve been asked and even told that.)
Haiku is a poetry genre which originated in Japan more than 300 yrs. ago. A haiku (and there is no such thing as haikus…it is plural in itself) is often written as a 3-line poem in which the first line as 5 syllables, the second has 7 and the 3rd has 5. Haiku can be written, appropriately, even in one line. I’ve seen a haiku in one word. Haiku is “in the moment” with nature and or human nature, written in a concise, never “wordy” form. Wordy to me is “carpet fuzz.” (unnecessary or redundant) I believe I’ve seen wordiness, concerning haiku, as pillowy. Don’t quote me on that.
Within this blog post, I am not able to accurately define or detail haiku. The Haiku Society of America has a vast listing of learning and reading websites and journals. As my dad used to say, “look it up.”
Before I share a few haiku I have had published, I must thank a dear friend, Terri French, who is not only a well-known published writer of haiku, she as well as Laurence Stacey have been instrumental in helping me practice and put into words the “now moments” of everyday. There are others, believe me. Haiku writers are branches in a wonderfully diverse, yet kind family tree.
My first published haiku, which appeared in Frog Pond, vol. 35:2 of 2012:
insects on the backs of leaves
his secrets safe
for a while…
The second was published in Modern Haiku, Autumn 2012:
muddy pond…
the radiologist’s face
The 3rd was published in Haiku News, Aug. 5, 2012:
news of a missing child
fish bubbles
ripple to the lake’s surface
There you have it. This is where I’ve been. I may not always write in the haiku form in my blog, but I will always take the importance of noticing details, discipline and astounding revelations I have learned and thread it, like saffron, though everything.
Please be patient as I try to gather links which will be helpful to you in learning and writing haiku. There are several WordPress sites for haiku as well as many noted and published haiku poets’ blogs. It is the generosity of others which has helped me. Notice the details of your life. Even with MS raging in my body, my spirit has been quieted and nourished. I’ve been kind to myself. Isn’t that what my dad used to say? Yes, it is. “Be kind”.
Carla
6 comments
January 18, 2013 at 1:30 pm
bigsheepcommunications
So happy to hear from you and excited you have a new writing passion
January 18, 2013 at 4:00 pm
Carla
Thanks, Lisa! I’ll still be writing some of my usual stuff, too. Like I said, haiku didn’t change my personality. It is awesome to find new ways to express yourself. I appreciate ya!
January 18, 2013 at 12:28 am
terrilfrench
It has been glorious to watch you blossom as a haiku poet in spite of some challenges you have experienced of late. I may have lead you to haiku, but you are teaching me as well–about haiku and about the will of a determined and creative spirit. Namaste and keeping ‘ku-ing my friend!
January 18, 2013 at 2:53 am
Carla
I respect the place in which you dwell and the place in which we together dwell, Terri. So, namaste is given back to you and then some.
I don’t know what I have taught you! You already are determined and creative! You are practiced, non-judgmental and willing to stretch and use what has been given to you in your life by sharing yourself with others. I appreciate your guidance and friendship more than you know. So, let’s keep ;ku-ing together!
January 18, 2013 at 12:08 am
georgettesullins
Congratulations on the publication and bravo to you for following your heart. I already learned so much about what haiku is not in just these three entries. Please keep writing about it. I wrote one years ago that was published. Perhaps I’ll e-mail it to you as I don’t profess to know what you know about the genre and form.
Definitely your title caught my eye because I have been absent for two weeks — two weeks that seem like ages.
January 18, 2013 at 2:42 am
Carla
Thank you so very much. Always feel free to send me whatever you would like. haiku can be 5-7-5 syllable sounds. It so can, but it shouldn’t always be boxed into that form. Please send me your haiku. I promise to be as the ones who are teaching me; never judging, always nudging.
I will post more when I can learn my way around this crazy arena of blogs, links and widgets. I get so frustrated over the simple stuff where technology is concerned. Hugs!