Adventures in Haiku, and HI, KOO! by Jon J Muth

Hello, and Happy Poetry Friday! Please visit Amazingly Talented Traveler-Poet Julie at The Drift Record for Roundup.

I have long been interested in haiku, and have long admired those of you who write it regularly (Robyn! Jone! Diane!), but have never written any myself. So when wonderful librarian Haruyo Miyagawa announced haiku events in conjunction with the Sakura (cherry blossom) Festival at Birmingham Botanical Gardens (tomorrow!), I decided to make attending those events a priority.

One of the things I did was attend a haiku workshop with Terri L. French. Here's some of the things I learned:

Haiku is more objective than the poetry I generally write -- no feelings or analogies allowed! No titles or end punctuation. It relies heavily on a juxtaposition. Uusally less than 17 syllables. Has a season word. A dash or ellipses act as the Kireji (cutting word). No personification.

Here's my very first effort at haiku:

Pine thicket laced
with dogwood blossoms--
painter's poison

-Irene Latham

While I was at the workshop, I checked out 6 books of haiku, including HI, KOO! A Year of Seasons, Presented by Koo and Jon J Muth. The illustrations are delightful, and kids will love Koo, the little panda bear, as he (she?) romps through the seasons. To give you a sense of the book, I offer you a poem from each of the seasons:

FALL

these leaves
fall forever
my Broom awaits


WINTER

Icicles
reach down with dripping fingers
will they touch the ground?


SPRING

flashlights
sparkle in Puddles
shadows climbing trees


SUMMER

Violet petal
caressing a cheek
butterfly kisses

You may have noticed capitalization of certain words... this book doubles as an ABC book, in that the capitalized words are in alphabetical order. :) For haiku lovers-- and for those like me who are new to haiku-- it's a must-read!