HAIKU, PARTICIPATIVE ART

Haiku: amber flames

Do you have a haiku for this moment? Add it as a comment!

amber flames

burn through rose-flushed petals -

summer flower

This haiku was inspired by the lovely colors of this flower seen in Andelot, France. The brilliant yellow with pink tips and a hint of blue on the tips, and in the very center where the petals are unfurling. It reminded me of fire. Photo by Ron Steed

How I practice haiku.

I am just a novice of this Japanese poem form. I’m sure those who have poured their lives into this marvelous poetry will gate-keep the hell out of me, and they should! Nevertheless, I love writing them the way I write them, and I’m hoping you will too.

I use a few simple rules:

• Although English learners are taught to use three lines in a 5-syllable, 7-Syllable, 5-syllable format, this usually results in haikus that are artificially longer than their Japanese couterparts since Japanese is parsed more rhythmically than English syllables. So I use the 5–7–5 rules as a maximum and don’t feel badly if I underuse all the syllables. The poverty of language is part of the art I think.
• Japanese haiku is focused on nature, and I try to keep my focus there as well.
• I try not to be self-referential, but rather strive to let nature say something about itself that might also say something about the human condition.
• I try to capture the “haiku moment”, the “aha!” that the writer feels when contemplating nature with the hope that the reader will receive some of spirit of that moment as well.
• I try to use one kireji (cut marker), and a kigo (season word).
• For me, haiku is a form of participative art; poetry in which the reader is invited to witness the moment with their own haiku in the comments. So please try your hand at it!

If this haiku resonated, I have others!

Haiku Table of Contents

The Rev. Ron Steed serves as an Episcopal Deacon in Southeast Connecticut and has served the New London Homeless Hospitality Center in a variety of ways. He is the author of 5-Minute Devotions for Dad: A Christian Parenting Book for Strength and Calm. He writes haiku and lyrical prose that he hopes will help others put the head and heart in right-relation.

Ron Steed