I wrote this back in the Cretaceous Era,
when I was coordinator of the East Hawai`i Writer's Guild and
editor of the guild's newsletter (I also taught poetry in the
public schools through the auspices of that wonderful but
now-defunct state-funded entity).
We used to hold annual Haiku and
Tanka competitions, as well as other poetry competitions. I was in
the habit of writing the instructions in the form in which
people would be competing. At the time I wrote this, I did
not yet own a motorcycle.
Haiku
and Tanka
Leilehua
Yuen, (c) 1988
Five
starts a haiku,
Seven in the second line,
The third, five again.
Then
there is tanka,
It starts out just like haiku
But it is longer -
Another line of seven,
And another on the end.
No
need to rhyme them,
But rhythm adds more meaning
And gives song to words.
Traditionally,
The season is seen inside,
Peeking through the lines.
Let
it be bashful.
Use symbol and what is real
To tell what you mean.
Don't write "summer smiles at me."
But write "young fruit hangs from trees."
Objects
of nature
Are often used as subject,
With charming effect.
But
do not limit
All your work to Nature's charms.
Do embrace the new.
What about motorcycles?
They have their own poetry.
Haiku
and tanka:
They do not spin and tumble,
Overflowing words
Like exhuberant free verse -
But stand, elegantly poised.
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Probably the most famous haiku is Basho's Old Pond.
Considered a classic, and definative of haiku, in English, it is
often translated as:
Old pond
frog jump in
water sound.
My own
interpretation:
Old
bike
girl jump on
engine sound.
asphalt
unrolling
wind wings glide through low mist clouds
sweet morning thunder
stars
above asphalt
explosions compressed to speed
steel thunder fades
two
stars shine through clouds
black landscape, asphalt, tires
sparks like stars on road
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