Each month, as part of the Lehigh Valley Poetry Virtual Salon, we do a free mini poetry workshop meant to be a quick prompt or exercise. The Salon is a zoom event on the first Monday of each month, with the mini workshop from 8:00- 8:30 EST and the open mic at 8:30. The events are typically shared on Facebook and Instagram, etc. Please feel free to reach out if you have any questions on that.
In this month’s mini workshop, we revisit the Haiku. Many of you have written haiku in school, counting syllables to make the lines fit as instructed. Some of you might have seen it as an easy exercise, short and simple. Is it, though? Haiku is a Japanese form and there are some rules for a haiku to be considered traditional, involving kireji and a kigo along with the 5-7-5 pattern. We encourage you to look into traditional Haiku, and explore some of the differences and learn more about the form on your own. Search for haiku, kireji, kigo, renga, haiga, haibun, and tanka.
Many modern haiku vary in their adherence to traditional elements, and the study of Haiku is certainly more involved than what we can cover in a few minutes. As we say, the purpose of the mini workshop is simply to expose and promote experimentation and new ways of writing our poetry. We do not expect to cover topics in depth or have a final completed poem. The goal is to think about poetry in new ways and perhaps push ourselves to dig deeper. You never know what might come of this work later on!
So for the purposes of this mini workshop, we will look at the Haiku.
Below are a few samples. The first is a traditional haiku, by Matsuo Basho:
Oh, tranquility!
Penetrating the very rock,
A cicada’s voice
Here is another, a modern take by our friend Missy Church from deathaiku, she also has an Instagram where she share her poetry:
Holding breath for those
who hold vigil for those who
sleep deep this season
Our inspiration for the evening: Beginnings, thaw, new, rejuvenation.
