In his latest Reverie, Joseph Harker excels himself in a poetic and erudite essay on the art of haiku, which he likens to throwing poetic spaghetti on a resonant wall.
Whenever I write haiku, and it is often, I do my utmost to follow the Japanese tradition. It is hard enough counting syllables without regard to linquistic stress, but Joseph delves into the intricacies of morae (breaking even syllables into elements) which I must confess is stretching my understanding to its utmost limits. If I have interpreted correctly, my kigo is happening outside right now as we experience the tail end of hurricane Gordon which veered in an unexpected West to East direction.
Wilful air currents
alter normal concept;
trees become weapons
Here are a couple I wrote before I had the benefit of Joseph’s teach-in. Some of the words have been changed in the light of new knowledge.
A blue haze
greets my morning eyes:
self-sown joy.
*
Easter dividend;
serendipity flowers
cover bare brown earth.
and for Haiku Heights’ Alien prompt
An alien force
invades our tranquillity:
unseasonal wind.
Excellent haiku, Viv!
An easier way to think of morae might be to say, in any given syllable: you get one mora for each vowel, and a bonus one for a consonant at the end. Or… well, maybe that doesn’t really help.
Out of these, I think I like the third one best. It wasn’t my favorite at first, but it started to open slowly, and got me thinking more and more about your mysterious choice of words. That’s a success, I dare say!
I think you have to have a particularly good ear, and patience, to work with morae. I used one when it helped me not have another whole syllable.
I didn’t know hurricanes ever came your way! Being a storm fan, I like the first and last which work well with each other.
They do, rarely, but this was only the tail end of Gordon: we get the leavings of Atlantic storms here regularly. My daughter and family are crossing the Irish Sea tonight, and the shipping forecast is anything but friendly.
I’m making smelly marrow and ginger chutney at the moment, with all the patio doors open to the wind. It’s a bit bangy, but I hope it will disperse the horrible vinegary stink.
Lovely. Not the weather, or the stink, but the chutney.
Viv, these are beautiful. It’s difficult to choose a favourite but I would have to say the first, for the final line. Wonderful image.
This alien poem has such a chilly feeling. I love it!
I felt power in “trees as weapons” and “self sewn joy” and “serendipity flowers.”
Hurricane force winds seem alien indeed, especially when two other Haiku tell us what is natural.
Well done! I like the concept of kigo but morae was beyond my grasp. I thought Joseph’s tutorial on this was exceptionally good.
not sure if I understand ‘morae’ at all, but I do love all the haiku – such beautiful words and feelings..