Let’s leave rhyme behind for a while. Instead, let’s look at the haiku, one of the most popular poetic forms we know of.
The haiku form comes from Japan and grows out of quiet observation of nature. It has three lines
The first line is made up of five syllables.
The second line is made up of seven syllables.
The third line is made up of five syllables again.
The haiku tries to make a picture of a single moment in time in just a few well-chosen words. The traditional Japanese haiku makes mention of something from nature in that moment.
Rocky forest trail
Rich greens after a spring rain
We walk in silence
As we in America have adopted the haiku, we don’t always center it on nature. Our daily lives and city environment sometimes takes nature’s place—or we just get whimsical.
Race out of the house
Breathlessly catch the school bus
Oops! Forgot homework!
Misunderstanding
I thought, you thought all mixed up
How to say sorry?
A day at the fair
Yummy melting ice cream cones
Our sticky fingers
What we keep, as you can see, is the form (five, seven, and five syllables) and the effort to say a lot in just a few well-chosen words.
Your challenge: Sit very, very still and quietly. Observe all that is going on around you. Describe it in haiku form. Practice will sharpen you at anything.
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