Haibun [Exercise #2]

Due Wednesday Feb. 15

Hello Darlings! In case you missed it, we had a fantastic first prompt. 14 poets participated, and Fresh Darlings gained 52 followers in less than two weeks! I’m thrilled by the wonderful writing and constructive feedback that is coming out of this workshop.

For the next prompt, we’ll be tackling Haibun. Haibun is a form popularized by the poet Bashō in seventeenth century Japan. It combines a prose poem with a final haiku that offsets the preceding part. To understand the form, here’s an example by Matthew Caretti:

Equanimity
The seasons come and go. From the rain to the dying song of the cicada, the soft tumble of fallen leaves, the hushed realm of morning snow.

We cling to some, treat others with unnatural scorn. Chasing the rains back to the heavens or the sun to the horizon. Raking leaves into happy heaps or shaping snow into a melting man. We learn not soon enough to love equally all of them.

Fresh needles
on the old larch
equinox wind

I’m going to leave this one more open-ended in terms of subject matter, but here are some notes about traditional Haibun you can choose to incorporate or ignore as you see fit:

1. Bashō was traveling when he conceived of the form, so Haibun have traditionally been seen as journey poems. Journey could be physical, spiritual, metaphysical, emotional, whatever!
2. Often, the prose section will avoid using a first-person speaker. The opening section is typically presented in a more detached tone, and uses the present tense. Many writers break with this tradition though!
3. The style is usually imagistic, using concrete imagery as opposed to a lot of abstraction.
4. The final haiku does not explain or repeat the prose, but reflects it or introduces an additional element. It highlights a small detail, may use a reference to one of the seasons, and contains natural imagery. Contrary to popular belief, Haiku in English does not have to adhere strictly to the 5–7–5 syllable format to count, so don’t get too boxed-in by that. For more interesting detail about Haiku and examples, I recommend this site:

Shadow Poetry - Haiku and Senryu

5. One thing I find fascinating as an important element of Haibun is the concept of aware (pronounced ah-war-ay): calling on the quality of certain objects to evoke longing, sadness, or immediate sympathy.

“Of course, anyone can keep a diary with such entries as ‘On this day it rained…in the afternoon it cleared…at that place is a pine…at this place flows a river called Such-and-such’; but unless sights are truly remarkable, they shouldn’t be mentioned at all” (Poets.org)

Balancing the potential of images to bring forth emotion in the reader while simultaneously avoiding sentimentality is surely one of the big challenges of Haibun. Good luck! I am excited to see how you interpret this unique form.

Please tag your posts Fresh Darlings Prompt and I’ll get them on the homepage as quickly as possible. Comment below if you’re new to Fresh Darlings but would like to submit to this prompt and I’d be happy to set you up as a writer.

Amy Echstenkamper, Darren Coxon, Christopher Raley, Jason Stelzner, Sebastien F. Dejean, Kathleen Clarke Anderson, David Collante, Debbie Aruta, Garnet, Dewi, Daveen, Tim Cremin, Patrick Faller, Jackie Ann