Haiku, The Allure of Three Lines

IN COLLEGE, I DISCOVERED that short non-rhyming poetry suited me better than the long, metered, classical poems I struggled to understand.

After earning a dreary grade in a sophomore poetry class, I concluded I would be happier as an art major than studying English literature as planned. In art, I found satisfaction in the physical act of stretching canvas, the sensation of damp clay spinning between my fingers, and the concentration needed to create a world from water and pigment on textured paper.

Then during a romantically difficult time (didn’t we all have some of those), I turned to free-form, non-rhyming verse to channel my emotions.

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Written in 1962 . . . not haiku yet:

Glimpses of Paradise

Life crawls on.

Slowly, days merge

One into the other,

None distinct,

Shrouded in gray mist,

They creep along the shore.

But when the moon

Bursts upon the waves

To form a thousand shining stars,

I rise from tawny sands

And see

Glimpses of paradise.

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When I discovered haiku some years later, the form appealed to me in the same way I enjoyed working in watercolors. Its rules and spare, perfect language make creation more difficult than the finished product suggests. The medium challenges the creator to inspire emotion in only a few words. If well done, beauty emerges.

Like watercolor painting, haiku is an inflexible art form. This traditional style of Japanese poetry can only be three lines, the first with five syllables, the second with seven, and the final line, like the first, with only five syllables. Minor deviations to accommodate English are tolerable but not encouraged. Haiku usually captures a moment in time related to nature, and the imagery can evoke strong human emotions.

Here is an early haiku I wrote:

SUNSET

Burst of white-hot sun

Gilds the fields of twisting grain

Night comes on gold feet

I am in no way a haiku master. Perhaps I am not even good. Yet I enjoy writing these short poems. So, it was natural that when Charlie (a character in Ashes and Ruins) needed to write a love poem, I chose haiku for him. The short form would fit on the hand-painted birthday card Charlie made, and it was the only type of poetry I felt competent to write into the novel.

This is the haiku I composed for Charlie’s birthday card to Edith, the love of his life.

Blossom petals fall,

Honey-scented. Bees Buzzing.

Your lips, like nectar.

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I find I return to haiku when I need emotional solace. This set of four was inspired by the California seasons during a recent year of loss and grief.

WINTER

Azure skies crown high

Snow-frosted peaks framed by palms

Golden winter dawn

SPRING

Cushioned hills bloom with

Brushstrokes orange, blue, and green.

Wildflower morning

SUMMER

Shimmering waves scroll

Arabesques as seagulls wheel.

Shoreside afternoon

FALL

Hot wind sways gilded

Stalks of grass and sage perfumes

The evening twilight.

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These days I am so busy writing prose for Substack and my in-process short story project, I seldom stop to pen haiku. Perhaps I need to make the time. I’d love to hear what you think.