Friday, April 1, 2011

Haikus are easy/ But sometimes they don't make sense/ Refrigerator

Well, today just sucks.  I'm having trouble getting motivated and I'm feeling 'blah'.  I cannot point to a single reason why I feel so down today; maybe it's just life catching up with me.

I'll be honest, I don't have many days like this, so when I do, I really don't know how to deal with them. So I decided to do what I always do: write.

So how about a haiku or two to lift my spirits?  I love Haikus!  In fact, I love the Japanese culture in general: the food, the clothing, the traditions, etc.  I love the beauty and the purposefulness of it all.

Most Americans tend to misuse the haiku.  We just put any group of words together in 3 lines containing five, then seven, and then five syllables and call it a haiku, but that completely misses the point of the poem.  Haikus are meant to be written about simple things, usually found in nature.  The syllable pattern doesn't always have to be follwed exactly (5/7/5), but it should be a template for creating measure. A haiku should be beautiful and descriptive - painting a picture in the reader's mind while putting a song in her heart.

Below are a few grossly misused haikus written by yours truly.  Sorry, Japan.  First you have the Tsunami and now this.


A craptastic day
Work, stress and stupid people
Is it beer-thirty?

Today is not cool
So Calgon take me away
A beach would be nice

A do-over please
But this time I’ll be smarter
And just stay in bed

In such a bad mood
I wonder what would change that...
Donuts for dinner?

No fun to talk to
So if you need to reach me
Don’t even bother

I hear nothing but
Wah, wah, blah, blah, wah, wah, wah
(Charlie Brown’s teacher )

Yay for poetry! I feel better already.