Haiku have the benefit of being short, while offering the challenge of constraint. They might direct me to pay attention and focus on the small things, or allow me to have a micro-dig at a big issue that I hope prompts thought without alienating (for the reader to decide).
Anyway, I thought I’d welcome in 2024 by writing a haiku a day in January. It seemed manageable, and I forgot about Veganuary.
For such a short poetic form, haiku has many rules – here’s one lovely article and here’s another. I followed the 5-7-5 rule strictly and less strictly bore the others in mind. A kireji cutting word; a kigo seasonal reference; a depiction of a moment of insight; and a grounding in observation appear often but not quite always. And so I didn’t start each day with the tyranny of a completely blank sheet of paper or laptop screen, I used a random word as a prompt.
…although, after the first five-syllable word came up on 9 January, I decided to reserve the right to pass over words of five or more syllables. Of course, re-rolling the dice didn’t make it any easier for me! And yet… words like salesperson, money, negotiation, committee, merchant I think helped me to be more creative. In February I turned to an account on Mastodon that provided prompts related to the season, and I found these much less satisfying. There is a truth in the ‘grit in the oyster’: that a piece of sand can generate a pearl.
An asterisk * indicates I wrote some alternatives, included at the bottom of the page.
-oOo-
1 January: strange
strange how December
triggered reading and writing
poetry again
2 January: line
noteworthy poplars –
a crotchety winter line
cedes to spring quavers
3 January: constant
a cyclical world
has one constant just question:
who eats all the pie?
4 January: nuance
I think nuance has
been drowned by black and white noise
and I’m always right
6 January: enjoy*
life is often tough
yet is twinkling with precious
moments to enjoy
7 January: original
original art –
snails’ tangled tracery turns
to ephemera
8 January: sulphur*
Prince sang of purple;
coal-fired sulphur dioxide
powered acid rain
9 January: salesperson*
in an aching world
who will be the salesperson
trading hope joy peace?
10 January: conventional*
the new year resolved:
vegan active dry new you –
it’s conventional
11 January: needle
I found a needle
but have misplaced the haystack –
where is the needle?
12 January: vision*
what is vision but
dreaming of springing greenly
during raw winter?
13 January: bar
if you find your life
bumping up against a bar
did you put it there?
14 January: apathy*
shake off apathy!
raise an outcry! take a stand!
the future needs us!
15 January: money*
the love of money
is a root of much evil –
take care with your roots
16 January: negotiation*
many air masses
are in negotiation
over my weather
17 January: cellar*
exploring in dreams:
attic, cellar, corridors,
undiscovered rooms
18 January: committee
possessed of roof tops,
starlings form a committee
to debate sunshine
19 January: prediction*
sunlight through windows –
my prediction for today
is more daffodils
20 January: regard*
to live a good life
pay no regard to surface:
seek the hidden depths
21 January: merchant
tired of ‘merchant’ speak –
let us find ourselves chanting
language that dances
22 January: measure
what good does it do
to measure against others?
live your own best life
23 January: lift*
going up and down –
spring summer autumn winter –
light gives me a lift
24 January: mature*
I want a big sign:
DANGER OF MATURE WOMAN!!
SCORN AT YOUR PERIL!!
25 January: conservative
be conservative:
conserve beauty, trust and hope
conserve the future
26 January: quarrel*
though they’re free to feed
sparrows still like to quarrel
for the sake of it
27 January: skate*
summer pond skaters
skate four-leggèd on water;
winter, two on ice
28 January: electron*
as an electron
spins in distant synchrony
I hold your imprint
29 January: attitude
greet each budding tree
with an attitude of awe –
it will save your life
30 January: site
site of age-old scars
site of transfiguration
in a sought season
31 January: random
late realisation!
random acts of kindness should
include some to self
Und schlussendlich…*
So war Januar
und alles hat ein Ende –
Danke fürs Lesen!
Alt haikus
6 January: enjoy
why do we work at / mindless jobs we don’t enjoy? / life is so fleeting
8 January: sulphur
re global warming, / sulphur hexafluoride has / the most potential
9 January: operational
see the pow’r of this / fully operational / armed battlestation!
‘operational’ / is a challenging word to / fit in a haiku!
9 January: salesperson
in a breaking world / who would be the salesperson / hawking oil or arms?
in an aching world / who will be the salesperson / trading hope joy peace?
10 January: conventional
stuff expectations! / time to scorn conventional / and be our good self
12 January: vision
bitter winter days – / vision of bees attending / honeysuckle bloom
14 January: apathy
pay close attention – / though a worthwhile endeavour / apathy will come
15 January: money
the love of money / is a root of much evil – / take care with your roots
see 1 Timothy 6.10
how your money goes / gives out – ever systolic – / where you keep your heart
see Matthew 6.21, Luke 12.34
16 January: negotiation
how much saner to / pursue negotiation / than rush to judgment!
17 January: cellar
writing on ‘cellar’? / or paying attention to / the starlings’ antics?!
19 January: prediction
a prediction of / infinite growth is absurd – / live in the present
any prediction, / optimist or pessimist, / lies though it be true
20 January: regard
Dear Mr Squirrel, / I am writing with regard / to bird seed: Hands Off!
21 January: merchant
everyone’s acting / on social media as / merchant of their lives
I have had to work with a lot of ‘random’ words like salesperson, money, negotiation, committee, merchant!
23 January: lift
footsore and weary – / lift from a welcome angel / with a black eye patch
24 January: mature
WARNING! DEFCON1! / KLAXON! ALERT! EXTREME RISK! / HAZARD! APPROACHING!
middle-aged women / are wise, mature, worth knowing – / right in front of you
26 January: quarrel
I have no quarrel / with those who agree with me / only with myself
27 January: skate
how good is your fish? / catching skate is illegal / says the MCS
earth’s ecosystems / skate on ever thinner ice; / future dreams are melt . . .
28 January: electron
I absorb sunshine / like an electron jumping / to a higher state
And finally
thank you for reading – / why not consider writing / your own haikus too?