The problem with haiku and a proposed solution
Like everyone else, I like haiku but I have a couple of problems with them:
1. They don’t tell a proper story. You read a haiku and you sort of have an idea about what it’s trying to say but actually getting the story straight, well it’s almost impossible. Mainly this is due to haiku-writers thinking they’re actually poets and therefore not saying what they mean but instead saying something a bit like what they mean, or even worse, the exact oposite of what they mean, you know what I mean.
2. They’re way too long. By the time you get to the third line you’ve forgotten how they started. You keep having to go back and re-read bits to try and piece all the words and clauses together. And of course you keep having to count the syllables to make sure it’s a real haiku.
Now I’m not saying let’s get rid of all the haiku on the internet, there are far too many for that. But in the future instead of going to all the trouble of writing a haiku, I think it would make more sense to do three word stories instead. The three word story, invented by me, is a story of at most three words. You can use two words or one word but no more than three words. And all the words have to be on the same line. And they have to tell a story, they can’t just say ‘the trees are flappy and brown’ or ‘the apparition of those faces in the crowd / petals on a wet, black bough’ or any of that.
Here’s an example:
Petronella went skiing.
Please leave examples in the comments below. Thank you.
This entry was posted on Wednesday, March 22nd, 2006 at 1:36 PM and filed under New stuff. Trackbacks are closed.
I bet this is a lot easier in German.
Posted on 22-Mar-06 at 4:25 pm | PermalinkMenace ate plums.
Posted on 22-Mar-06 at 4:25 pm | PermalinkKate made paella.
Posted on 22-Mar-06 at 4:26 pm | PermalinkKate wants wine.
Posted on 22-Mar-06 at 4:26 pm | PermalinkHeather drank wine
Posted on 22-Mar-06 at 10:35 pm | PermalinkDebby did Dallas.
Is that a bit of Ezra Pound I spy, Menace? (Can’t be arsed to check by googling.)
Oh, also, what’s with the Petronella? Any fule kno it’s:
Horace goes skiing.
Posted on 23-Mar-06 at 12:38 am | Permalinkdon’t like poetry
Posted on 23-Mar-06 at 1:42 am | PermalinkMatt had kittens.
Posted on 23-Mar-06 at 1:52 am | PermalinkNorah read this.
Posted on 23-Mar-06 at 4:58 am | PermalinkKeith woz ‘ere.
or…
I pressed flesh.
or…
Life’s dreams unfulfilled.
Posted on 23-Mar-06 at 9:42 am | Permalinkkeith without brackets.
Posted on 23-Mar-06 at 10:56 am | PermalinkYes, that is Pound’s famous image.
Some excellent three word stories there. I was particularly gripped by the one about the kittens. I can see myself reading that one at least once a year.
Keith - I was trying to hunt you down the other day, assuming that you must have a modern presence somewhere on the net. But I failed.
Posted on 23-Mar-06 at 11:23 am | PermalinkStrained peas banned.
Posted on 24-Mar-06 at 3:44 am | PermalinkPea ban strained.
Posted on 24-Mar-06 at 5:14 am | PermalinkMenace searches: Keith
Posted on 29-Mar-06 at 1:12 am | Permalink