Haiku heroism
Ok, so inspired by Shamsie’s protagonist Aasmani Inqualab (the delusional daughter searching for her mother – talk about post Freud), who is also pretend Haiku poet, I decided to google out some more info on this form of verse. Haiku is written in a single vertical line in Japanese. It has 17 syllables, 5 in the first line, 7 in the second, and 5 in the last line. There is a break, called kireji, which breaks the poem into a phrase and a fragment. Traditionally, a Haiku must have a word depicting a season. When it doesn’t, it’s called something else. In fact there are many spin offs (with their own Japanese names). Attempting to write one myself, this is what I came up with:
You return to me
Unbidden, unwanted too
Remain unaware.
Considering my penchant for (really badly written) long rambling sentences (sample previous post) that I then pass off as ‘free verse’, this calibration should stand me in good stead. It’s actually an interesting exercise to measure out your words (in terms of syllables) to express your idea. Post scriptum thought: Dryden, hats off to you old man, for your MacFlecknoe. Mock heroism at its best, satire at its crudest (and therefore most strident), and perfectly measured out to the last syllable.
All human things are subject to decay,
And, when Fate summons, monarchs must obey…
http://www.web-books.com/Classics/Poetry/anthology/Dryden/MacFlecknoe.htm
