So, just recently we got back to college after a long break (2 months! muahahahaha) and our facilitator was a word lover (addict sounds more accurate though) and though everything he said was interesting and insightful, i suddenly found that he seemed to be droning on and on and on... i really thought he was boring for a while till i realized that i was just extremely saturated and half zoned out.
Anyway. he told us that to write better or to gain more control over words, we should write 'poems'. not necessarily become poets per say, but just try writing with those constraints. honestly speaking, it wasn't... that challenging, but i did struggle a bit when starting. oh right - we were given 3 choices - a haiku, a sonnet or a villanelle.
i chose haiku. for those who know me, they could easily guess why i chose haiku. for those who don't know me too well, you'll realise that if my facilitator was a word lover, then i'm a lover of most things japanese. funny right?
Which will probably bring you to the question - what IS a haiku?
a haiku is a 3 line poem, with a 5-7-5 syllable requirement, meaning that your first sentence is 5 syllables, second 7 and third 5.
Now, i honestly wonder how they manage to write haikus in japanese because most japanese words are at least 2 to 3 syllables. english isn't any easier. in fact, because english is an 'iambic pentameter' language (apparently, so my facilitator says. or something like that) the syllable count is more 'comfortable' in 10 syllables, so haikus changed to either 6-4-6 pattern or 4-6-4 sometimes.
i somehow managed to write my haikus in 5-7-5 patterns, so do tell me what you think :)
Anyway. he told us that to write better or to gain more control over words, we should write 'poems'. not necessarily become poets per say, but just try writing with those constraints. honestly speaking, it wasn't... that challenging, but i did struggle a bit when starting. oh right - we were given 3 choices - a haiku, a sonnet or a villanelle.
i chose haiku. for those who know me, they could easily guess why i chose haiku. for those who don't know me too well, you'll realise that if my facilitator was a word lover, then i'm a lover of most things japanese. funny right?
Which will probably bring you to the question - what IS a haiku?
a haiku is a 3 line poem, with a 5-7-5 syllable requirement, meaning that your first sentence is 5 syllables, second 7 and third 5.
Now, i honestly wonder how they manage to write haikus in japanese because most japanese words are at least 2 to 3 syllables. english isn't any easier. in fact, because english is an 'iambic pentameter' language (apparently, so my facilitator says. or something like that) the syllable count is more 'comfortable' in 10 syllables, so haikus changed to either 6-4-6 pattern or 4-6-4 sometimes.
i somehow managed to write my haikus in 5-7-5 patterns, so do tell me what you think :)
Dusk
blossoms orange
Red like
fire flowers fall down
Darkness
consumes all
The moon
shines brightly
Ripples form
from sakura
Winged fish
swim closer
Darkness
cloaks the night
Where ghost
like orbs shimmer bright
Released by
sad hands
The haiku above is in reference to the 'bon' festival in japan, where you release lanterns while saying a prayer for your lost ones. i don't remember the equivalent for the bon festival in india, but something similar is celebrated in many countries.
Cold sky
blushes pink
Cherry blossoms
turn bright white
A dew drop
slips down
i'll be writing a few more in the coming week and i'll give my hand at a sonnet or a villanelle, wish me luck!
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