Haiku Away!

Posted by Sharlee | April 5, 2007 | 16 Comments

It’s National Poetry Month and here at Segullah we’re celebrating by hosting another poetry challenge. We were delighted by the response to our limerick contest in March and would now like to put out a call for haikus.

To refresh your memory, a haiku is a very short poem consisting of 17 syllables divided into three lines (5, 7, 5). Many “rules” governing the writing of haikus have evolved over the years, but we’re going to keep it simple. Here are the criteria:

”¢ 3 lines (5 syllables in first line, 7 in second, 5 in third)
”¢ Present tense
”¢ No rhyme
”¢ Must paint a mental picture in reader’s mind

Often haikus are built around a comparison, a contrast, or an association.

Here’s a good example:

The Rose
By Donna Brock

The red blossom bends
And drips its dew to the ground
Like a tear it falls

Remember, nothing sentimental, didactic, rhetorical, or obscure! (Wow, what would sentimental, didactic, rhetorical, and obscure haikus even look like? Just for fun, I’m going to try my hand at each. Here goes:

Sentimental Haiku
Hi! coo. Precious babe
Rosebud mouth, cherubic cheeks
Mama’s baby boy

Didactic Haiku
Be honest and chaste
Pray, obey, serve, love, forgive
Oh, and floss your teeth

Rhetorical Haiku
Oh thou wicked world
Entreat me not nor hail me
Thy lusts wither cold

Obscure Haiku
Carnivorous frond
Devour stench and gormandize
Fetid growth again

Groan.

Okay, let the fun begin! Deadline is midnight Tuesday, April 10th. Winner will receive 50 cents cash and a signed copy of the really bad haiku (sentimental, didactic, rhetorical, or obscure) of his/her choice. (And we really do come through on these prizes. Just ask Rick Walton, winner of the limerick challenge. That man is 50 cents richer today than he was a month ago!)

*Note: Despite the rather facetious tone of this post, we recognize that the haiku is an elegant and time-honored art form. A good haiku is like a perfect photograph—beautiful, spare, and often startling. We are looking, then, for serious haikus as well as silly ones. In fact, as an added incentive, all haikus submitted to this contest will be considered for possible publication in an upcoming issue of Segullah.

Category: Announcements

Comments

16 Responses to “Haiku Away!”

Justine
April 5th, 2007 @ 11:19 pm

Brevity, too hard
I groan against the constraints
Head hurts. must stop now.
Sharlee
April 5th, 2007 @ 11:29 pm

Justine, you crack me up.

You’re quick–and brilliant to boot!
Cindy
April 6th, 2007 @ 11:09 am

Curb verbosity?
I think all Japan must cringe
When I try haiku.
Maralise
April 6th, 2007 @ 11:37 am

Break
load down, they are free
the van melts into the road
spring comes stretch at last
Rick Walton
April 6th, 2007 @ 11:57 am

Loku
(really bad haiku)
by Rick Walton

First come the long rains,
Then the fire of the sun, and
Fried worms on the walk.

After seventeen
Comes eighteen and then nineteen
And then comes twenty.

I run down the road,
And then darkness. Just darkness.
FIX THESE DARN POTHOLES!

Oh, supercali,
Oh, fragilistic expi,
Oh, alidocious.

Oh rutabaga,
Oh, oh, rutabaga, oh,
Oh, rutabaga

Penguin knocks three times.
That’s the signal. I let him
Out of the freezer.

Robin in the tree
Sings its song and doesn’t see
The cat behind it.
Emily M.
April 6th, 2007 @ 12:21 pm

Holy Friday in Loja

Black cloths drape storefronts
empty stone streets echo, mourn:
Virgen* statues weep.

I never really experienced Holy Friday as such until my mission. Growing up in Utah, I had no idea how the Catholic world shuts down to mourn. My companion and I offended an investigator by wishing her a “Happy Holy Friday.” “It’s not a happy day,” she corrected us. “We are sad today, thinking of Jesus.”

*”virgen” is the correct spelling in Spanish.
Carrie
April 6th, 2007 @ 12:40 pm

The Once Healthy Soup
(or lunch for a two-year old)

He says, “More cheese please!”
So I dump the parmesean
on the lentil soup.

Maybe I should find a new muse…how about dirty diapers?!
Erica
April 6th, 2007 @ 1:39 pm

Soft breezes caress;
Purest joy provided by
my electric fan.

Too many choices!
My mind reels as I stare down
The cereal aisle.

Elegant? Sparse? Spare?
Despair! I am too verbose
To pen a Haiku.

The muse awakens,
promises inspiration,
then falls back asleep.

Goodbye!

P.S. Rick Walton is too good at this kind of stuff! Can’t he be disqualified or something? He did win the last contest, after all.

P.P.S. Someday I’m going to try writing something serious!
Sharlee
April 6th, 2007 @ 4:08 pm

Wow! These are great. Keep ‘em coming.

(I’ve already informed Rick Walton that he’s too good and that he must learn to share the glory and honor (and the 50 cent cash awards). So his haiku (or, rather, loku) are for your reading pleasure only and will not be considered as contenders in the competition.)
Tatiana
April 7th, 2007 @ 5:49 pm

Lol the penguin is my favorite so far!
Kel
April 8th, 2007 @ 8:07 pm

The roadside gum trees
Twist their branches heavenwards
Like unvoiced heart prayers

and

My world of too much
Must be fought until conquered -
Right after dessert.

=)
Justine
April 8th, 2007 @ 10:26 pm

If you\’re taking votes, I vote for the cereal one, and this one right above me about right after dessert!

I must be hungry.
Kati
April 9th, 2007 @ 4:32 pm

Vrooom vrooom. Vroom vroom vrooooooooom.
Sharlee rides down the street on
Her motorcycle.

Hmmm. For some reason, the only poetry I can come up with is about Sharlee and a Harley…
Sharlee
April 9th, 2007 @ 5:35 pm

Gnarly, Kati.:-)

Keep em’ coming, folks. Remember, the deadline is tomorrow, Tuesday, April 10, at midnight (MST). The winning entry will be announced Wednesday morning.
Jennifer B.
April 9th, 2007 @ 6:17 pm

When my sister invited friends to write poetry in honor of Groundhog Day, I wrote this.

Emerge from burrow
see not the cold grey shadow
and promise us spring

When I extended the invitation on my blog, Darlene cracked me up with this one:

Be wise, tawny friend
I need spring. If you fail me
rodent is roadkill.
Sharlee
April 11th, 2007 @ 9:44 am

Thank you, all, for your entries. Once again, our panel of distinguished judges had a very difficult time making a decision. But after a long, sleepless night, they are ready to announce the winners of the 2007 Segullah Haiku Contest.

In the category of Light Haiku, we have two winners:

Too many choices!
My mind reels as I stare down
The cereal aisle

and

My world of too much
Must be fought until conquered -
Right after dessert.

And in the category of High Haiku, we also have two winners:

The roadside gum trees
Twist their branches heavenwards
Like unvoiced heart prayers

and

Holy Friday in Loja

Black cloths drape storefronts
empty stone streets echo, mourn:
Virgen* statues weep.

And, of course, the unrivaled master of the Loku (really bad Haiku) is Sir Rick Walton. But that goes without saying (and also without reward in this case–but that’s just because Rick won our last contest and was thus declared ineligible for this one).

Congratulations to our winners. All four of the winning entries will be considered for publication in an upcoming issue of Segullah. Authors will be contacted privately.

Thanks again, and keep honing your craft. There’s always next year!