2021 FEB 01 * #2021CEH

     Haiku

deceptively short 

haiku is approachable

not always friendly

© 2021 Cheryl L. Crockett

#2021CEH #haiku #poem

#CherylsEverydayHaiku #NaHaiWriMo #poetry

Hi! My name is Cheryl and I am a poet. This greeting is for those who haven't met me yet.

To those who know me and who have supported and encouraged me through these many years, welcome back, and thank you!

In January of 2013, I began writing daily haiku and posting them online. At the beginning of 2021, I counted my posts. I have approximately 1,100 poems (mostly haiku). A handful have been published; a few have been on display in a gallery and one was a contest winner. These accomplishments don’t make me an expert, just a person with a few positive experiences. I hope others will find encouragement as I share them.

This year, I am participating in #NaHaiWriMo (National Haiku Writing Month) and invite you to join me by reading, sharing and maybe even writing some of your own. You can click this hashtag to read haiku posted by people around the world. The project, which usually happens in February, has been ongoing for many years.

When writing haiku, some of the ground rules I have set for myself include:

1.   - If I don’t write it down, it doesn’t count! Whether typing on my computer or phone, or holding a pen and notebook, I can keep my words and phrases in my head only for so long, then they will leave me.

2.   - Using only a single line to scratch out a word, phrase or passage I no longer want to use in my poem, I allow it to remain legible. I do not scribble it into oblivion; it may inspire a future poem.

3.   - My haiku avoid repeated words, unless there is a really good reason to say the same word again.

4.   - I avoid the use of very small, filler words that have minimal meaning.

5.   - Finished haiku must make sense. If I understand what I've written, my readers will, too.

6.   - Write my best. I create haiku I’d like to read again and will be proud to share with others.

Periodically, I will challenge myself in other creative ways, but these are the practical standards I set for myself. I value them highly, and offer them, not as hard and fast rules, but as suggestions to ignite your own creative process.

Although the finished product is small, writing haiku is work. Sometimes, a poem constructed in 5 minutes will be a prize-winner (that actually happened); other times, it may take much longer to create something that meets one's own personal standard of excellence. Whether you're reading or writing, thanks for joining the journey.

W

Creative Process Insights and Showing My Work

Just as I remember back in math class, the teacher would tell us to show our work, although this is not math, it makes sense for me to show my work. This is how I created some of my recent haiku in preparation for #NaHaiWriMo & #CherylsEverydayHaiku

WORD LIST for "Haiku American Style"

1 Syllable                                            2 Syllable                                         3 Syllable

Wince                                                  cower                                               shoveler

Cringe                                                 hidden                                              opulent

Thinned                                               crowded                                           created

Crushed                                               thunder                                             glistening

Stern                                                    fasten                                               diluted

Burn                                                    itchy                                                 agony

Trust                                                    winter                                               allegiance

Porch                                                   reject                                                variance

PHRASES

Hidden opulence (5)                       Thinned allegiances (5)                  Crushing rejection (5)

Glistening winter porch (6)           Agonizing wince (5)                         Glorious agony (5)

Burning winter ____(4)                 Vast glistening creation (7)           Cowering shoveler (6)

 

HAIKU DRAFTS

(inspired by the word “rejection”)

There is no one else (5)

She chooses to stay single (7)

His two empty hands (5)

Donning winter boots

Shoveler peeks thru curtains

Porch collects white flakes  (or "Flakes whiten the porch")

  

Sporting furry gear

Budding skier checks forecast

Summoning more snow


©2021 Cheryl L. Crockett

HAIKU AMERICAN STYLE

February 1, 2021 

Day 1 Prompt – HAIKU AMERICAN STYLE

5-7-5 is shorthand for the “western” haiku form. Each numeral represents the number of syllables on each of three lines in the poem. It is not the only way to write haiku, but it is one of the most popular ways to write haiku in English (confirmed by a Jeopardy answer that aired on television, so it must be true). But, because haiku is believed to have originated in the Japanese language, translations of haiku into English rarely yield 17 syllables.

Always willing to learn and grow, I embrace the freedom to write haiku in various ways. I usually follow the rules and sometimes I deviate from them. This is art (not medicine), and artists do this with impunity, because it usually makes our art even better (and nobody is going to suffer a health crisis if my haiku has 16 syllables). I encourage others to embrace this freedom, too.

Getting Started: Writing poetry means “writing”. The most important thing I teach when visiting K-12 classrooms is this: “If you don’t write it down, it doesn’t count!” Divide your paper or device screen into 3 columns:

1. One Syllable Words
2. Two Syllable Words
3. Three Syllable Words

This will become your WORD LIST:
In each column, write down at least 5 words that are interesting and expressive. Be sure to include nouns, verbs and adjectives. Let the words come to you randomly; they do not have to be related and your list can be as long as you like. Don’t let any words stay in your mind; write them down always. Otherwise, you’ll forget. Ask me how I know.

For this haiku, I am going to suggest starting without a topic in mind; instead, let a theme emerge as you put words and phrases together.

Next, on a separate phrase page or screen, words from the list can be combined to create phrases that are 3, 4, 5, 6 or 7 syllables in length. Instead of creating columns for this, the number of syllables can be put in parentheses next to each phrase.  Mixing and matching phrases, adding previously unused words or new words not on the list, the combinations will take shape and inspire ideas. A theme will emerge and the foundation for at least one, possibly multiple, haiku will be laid. The goal is to create impactful 5 and 7 syllable phrases.

Finally, the strongest 5 and 7 syllable phrases can become the basis for haiku. If two phrases don’t go together, each can be edited to create two separate haiku. By now, some topics or themes may have become clear. By adding or replacing a new word or phrase, writing more phrases that make sense for the themes that come to mind, the finished haiku will take shape.

For this prompt, a finished “American” Haiku should be organized in this way:

Line One (The Beginning) – 5 syllable phrase

Line Two (The Middle) – 7 syllable phrase

Line Three (The Ending) – 5 syllable phrase

The word list can be saved for a future writing session.

I invite you to share your completed haiku and post publicly with the hashtags #NaHaiWriMo AND #CherylsEverydayHaiku

2021 JAN 30 * #2021CEH

     Haiku

donning winter boots 

shoveler peeks thru curtains

porch collects white flakes

© 2021 Cheryl L. Crockett

#2021CEH #haiku #poem

#CherylsEverydayHaiku #NaHaiWriMo

#winter #snow #flakes #shovel #snowflake #snowfall #boots #snowboots