Pure Haiku - Holiday...

Thank you for reading Pure Haiku. I am currently taking a break from all things technological in order to enjoy Christmas and find some rest and relaxation. 

Pure Haiku will be back in the New Year so if you would like to see your haiku on this site, please feel free to contact me at Freya

Wishing you all a very happy Christmas and a peaceful New Year. 

Freya

A Memory of November by Freya Pickard

The dying year weeps

Fallen leaves as sap declines.

Earth and trees sleep deep.

A Memory of October by Freya Pickard

Tender green fronds, bright

Sun-like heart, white petals gleam,

Fragrant, sun-warmed herb.

A Memory of September by Freya Pickard

Recycling cardboard

And dried cut fennel stalks for

An insect hotel.

A Memory of August by Freya Pickard

Like a delicate

Candyfloss, mint flowers bloom

Enticing insects

Huntress by Freya Pickard

Keen-eyed, sights the stag

Running beneath forest leaves;

Closes for the kill.

A Memory of July by Freya Pickard

Seed sown in soil

Produces fruit in darkness;

Perfect potatoes!

A Memory of June by Freya Pickard

Yellow veins stretch out

Supporting the wide, green leaf

Cabbage slowly grows.

A Memory of May by Freya Pickard

A single seed makes

Two soft leaves to seek the sun -

A promise of fruit.

A Memory of April by Freya Pickard

Cornflower blue smiles

Opens his crowned head towards

The rays of sunshine.

A sunshine haiku by Freya Pickard

Sun strong on my skin

Relaxes, warms my body.

Breeze is still cool

A fruity haiku by Freya Pickard

Green, round fruits, tartness

Inside, sweetened by sugar –

A gooseberry fool!

An elemental haiku by Freya Pickard

Clouds sailing eastwards

Driven by a high wind from

The sun’s daily death.

Claudia Messelodi - haiku 5 & 6

This week sees the last in Claudia's series of haiku. If you would like to read more of her poetry please visit EOTE

Cicadas' night songs

bring delight to lonely souls

till the morning comes

Nimble kids play free

while their father mows the lawn

mum observes the scene

Why I like these haiku

Cicada's night songs 
A sad piece. The juxtaposition of night bringing delight because of their song and the inference that the delight fades in the morning light is beautifully depicted.

Nimble kids play free 
Very domesticated scene but with a hint of sadness in it too. The words she uses indicate that this should be a happy scene. But the reader is left wondering why mum just observes and doesn't join in.

Claudia Messelodi - haiku 3 & 4

This week I am posting two more of Claudia's haiku. Don't forget that if you would like to read more of her haiku, please visit EOTE

Industrious ants run

back and forth the kitchen tiles

mind the feet that pass

Tireless ant files float

up and down the door hinges

peek a boo and hide

Why I like these haiku

Industrious ants run 
Ants in the house? Surely not? Out! Out! Out! Alarm! Sorry, I leave ants alone in the garden but kill them if they come in the house. I liked the feeling of busyness and industry as the ants try to avoid the feet that could well end their lives.

Tireless ants file float  
I have to admit I couldn't work out why she used "float" here. I had visions initially of ants floating through the air! But on re-reading I realised she meant that the ant files seem to float because they move so smoothly as they march up and down. I liked the way she turned an observation into a playful thing with the last line.

Claudia Messelodi - haiku 1 & 2

This week I am featuring two of Claudia Messelodi's haiku. If you would like to read more of her poetry, please visit EOTE

Timid sunflowers

up and down the restless path

from dawn until dusk

Moved and deeply inspired

sitting at the bright window

put down thoughts in lines

Why I like these haiku

Timid sunflowers  

That's a real juxtaposition. I always think of sunflowers as bold and strong. The phrase "restless path" was intriguing and it made me think of the breeze rippling through the sunflower stalks. 

Moved and deeply inspired 
An excellent distillation of inspiration. Yes, we have to be moved by something to be inspired. Sitting at the bright window would be enough for me to become inspired. Lovely image of light without even mentioning light. And Put down thoughts in lines - perfect way of summing up how we write haiku!

A Haiku Journey by Kirsten Cliff

This week I am re-posting a piece from Kirsten's website about her journey through haiku. I found it a fascinating insight into why she writes. You can read the piece here


Let me know what you think!

 

Haiku by JulesPaige

 

Haiku

by

JulesPaige

 

 

hot topic haiku
everyone wanting freedom
while making non-sense

willow tree eyes blink
sightless, the fallen, huddle
forgetting summer

running by the creek
unidentified species -
laughs while passing me 

 

If you would like to read more of JulesPaige's work, please visit her at GemStone

Gone In Search of Inspiration...

Well, not exactly, but I thought it was a good title for today's blog! 

I know I can't search for inspiration. It's like the elusive phoenix and unicorn. You can't find them. You have to wait for them to find you. (The unicorn used to visit me under the spreading chestnut tree. But now the chestnut tree has died, will the unicorn return?)

Am I mad? Possibly! I hear voices in my head. That's a sign of madness, isn't it? Or is it inspiration?

What I'm trying to say in a not very succinct way (that was really bad English!) is that I'm taking time out once again to make myself available for inspiration to come to me. 

I've really struggled to write this month; my Nan's death affected me in ways I hadn't considered. So it's time to pause and be and hopefully come back bursting with ideas next month. 

So please forgive me if I don't answer your email, tweet, facebook message, phonecall, letter, text... I will get back to you eventually. 

May you find your inspiration in unlikely places. 

Freya

Posting from A~Lotus

This week I am re-posting a comment left for me on WOWH 

 

The following text is from Kathy Uyen Nguyen (A~Lotus) and if you would like to read more of her work please visit A~Lotus

Haiku encompasses more than just 5/7/5.  The 5/7/5 works in the Japanese language, not in very many other languages from what I have studied (and I've also studied Spanish and French languages).  I am even attempting to try my hand at writing haiku and various of other forms of Japanese form poetry in my native language (Vietnamese) and it does not work in the 5/7/5 form.  In my language sometimes there needs to be 2 words (or more!) as compared to one word in English.  For instance, "dog" in English translates to "con cho" in Vietnamese with diacritical marks.  Now would you call that a haiku if I have more than 5/7/5 if it is written in my own language (which is stemmed from the Chinese and French)?  Or how about other languages that use considerably less syllables?  I for one do not discount either.  I would still call a poem a haiku if it satisfies the basic foundation of being one. If a haiku must be in the pure 5/7/5 form, many budding haiku writers would simply resort to counting their fingers and toes and call their poem "haiku," which is the case I've found on Twitter (as an example).  I must admit that that was how I was when I first heard about the haiku when I was younger.  However, when I studied more about the haiku on my own in my undergraduate studies was when I realized that my creative writing professor too had the 5/7/5 structure in mind.  I disagreed with her.  Now I understand that a haiku should need the kigo, a pivot, and other elements to it thanks to many haiku veterans who have taught me (and I've read many of their articles).  A haiku could be stunning as a one-line poem or a two-line instead of 3.  A haiku could still be 5/7/5 so long as it encompasses the elements of what constitutes a haiku.  A haiku could still be a haiku even if it does not adhere to the 5/7/5.  From what I've read of a lot of American haiku in English literature anthologies and especially the ones posted on Twitter, they are similar to the American sentences instead (created by Allen Ginsberg). Here is a very thoroughly researched article by Robert D. Wilson on the haiku:  "To Kigo or Not to Kigo".  I hope this article helps because for me, I think a 5/7/5 haiku is good if it encompasses such crucial elements like the kigo, which I cannot emphasize enough!  Otherwise, people say writing a haiku is too easy--like writing a fortune cookie--, and that is upsetting (like it's a joke) because they are missing the beauty and heart of writing haiku. Best wishes for your blog! :)  Sorry if this is a little too long, but I just thought I'd wave the pretty flag of "elements" for haiku because it seems like so many people forget that.

8-8

A burst of colour

Bright orange on green, flower

Nods gently and smiles.

8-7

Blue-green sea ripples

Silently. White caps froth and

Foam towards the shore.

8-6

Blue box falling through

Time and Space. Adventure waits

For the Traveller.

8-5

The insistent rain

Drenches, pours, soaks and spatters

Earth, road, grass and stone.

8-4

Clouds sailing eastwards

Driven by a high wind from

The sun’s daily death.

Taking a break...

For the next couple of weeks I will be taking a break from regular blogging. I will blog as and when I can. I am working full time for a bit to cover a colleague's holiday and also, my Nan has died so things are in suspense until the funeral is arranged. 

I have written a memorium to my Nan which you can find here

I will hopefully be back in circulation by the end of the month and will reply to comments and messages then. 

Thank you for all your comments and encouragement.

8-3

Dark pink edged by light,

White hairs on green budded stem.

Petals in the sun.

8-2

Still water darkly

Reflecting peaked roofs and tree;

A glimpse of the past.

8-1

Framing the path you

Stand on, cherry blossom falls

Like a pale, pink snow.

7-1

From cool to hot, the

weather shifts swiftly; Summer

can't make up its mind.