I remember vividly being introduced to Haiku in my English class in high school. We were in the midst of a project to write our autobiographies (how much does a 12-year-old have to put in an autobiography? – I still have it by the way) and the teacher, Mr Coton, taught us how to write Japanese Haiku poetry. The strict structure of the poem fascinated me.
For those who are going “what’s a Haiku?”, it’s a short poem that captures the moment, invariably linked to nature, in three lines split in a 5-7-5 syllable pattern.
To me they are often wistful little moments of magic captured in those few syllables. Like the flash fiction I share occasionally on here, I like the challenge of capturing the moment in so few words/syllables. Writing exercises like that hone the skills (at least that’s the theory).
Between Christmas and New Year, I took part in an online Winter Writing Sanctuary hosted by the wonderful Beth Kempton. As part of one of the daily assignments, I wrote some Haiku and I thought I’d share them with you.
Stars sparkle and shine
Blue hour passed and night descended
Make a wish and smile
Frosty winter moon
Moon goddess smiles down on me
Waxing and waning
Mama bear asleep
Hibernation beckons her
The alarm rings shrill
Jack rabbit alert
Tail twitches among the sand dunes
With one bound he’s gone
Warm sand under foot
Solace wraps up round my ankle
Soul at peace at last
Soulmate love runs deep
Unspoken declaration
Longing to be held
Image source via Google – credits to the owner
Coral McCallum 