The ninth installment of Jim Kacian’s Haiku Primer 
is now available, here. Last month Jim discussed haiku History;
this month he explores Related Forms — poetic forms similar to haiku,
or stemming from he same Japanese poetic tradition, such as senryu,
zappai, tanka, renga, and renku, which come under the umrella term of “haikai.”
To read all installments to date, click here.
cold morning
the scarecrow shrinks
with age
Jim Kacian from Presents of Mind 
First Thoughts–A Haiku Primer
(title subject to change)
co-founder of the World Haiku Society; and past editor
Installment eleven of 11
[click here to read all installments to date;
don't forget to consult jim's haiku Glossary]
Endnote–
Haiku: The World’s Longest Poem
You have now begun the journey of haiku. You will help maintain its lineage by knowing what it is, how it works, and what has been valued in it for centuries. You will help make it new by bringing to it your own vitality and sensibility, and the new experiences and values which only you and the future can supply. This is what is necessary for haiku to matter: a sense of its past, a relevance to the present, a growing into the future.
It will also help you to see haiku, and your place in it, in larger terms. Haiku is, as we have seen, the world’s shortest poetic form. Properly considered, it is also the world’s longest poem. The goal of every haiku is to see the world aright, see it whole, see it true. Every haiku contributes some small piece to this seeing. Every haiku aims, then, at a common goal, and as such can be seen as a piece of a whole. When considered in this way, haiku becomes the agglomeration of thousands, even millions, of small moments, from nearly the same number of poets over several centuries, shared by way of a common form. We are a part of this far-ranging community, and as such can feel the power which community can bring to such an enterprise. Bash
late at night
the cold white edges
of the bed
the cold night
comes out of the stones
all morning
in the dark
the trap snaps shut
silent dawn
the river mirrors
the busy bridge -
one duck races the cars
[Dec. 1, 2004]
posts a reply from assigned counsel Deborah Sirotkin Butler. Our two cents gets
George Wallace is Foolin’ around with the
double dactyl genre again.
late at night
the cold white edges
of the bed
the cold night
comes out of the stones
all morning
in the dark
the trap snaps shut
silent dawn
the river mirrors
the busy bridge -
one duck races the cars
[Dec. 1, 2004]
posts a reply from assigned counsel Deborah Sirotkin Butler. Our two cents gets
George Wallace is Foolin’ around with the
double dactyl genre again.
offer no comment on today’s posting by the otherwise bon vivant Steve Bainbridge:
Pledge Break
The computer in my home office is dying a lingering death and I’m
going to have to order a replacement this week. So if you’ve been
thinking about hitting the tip jar in the left sidebar, now would be a
very opportune moment to do so. And I thank you.
Well, okay, maybe three questions: (1) will we at least get some special
programming, like they do during PBS pledge week? (2) what the heck will Steve do when
a good old California earthquake or forest fire strikes his home? and (3) to restore my faith in
macho neo-cons and libertarians, could someone please convince me that Prof. B is doing this
tongue-in-cheek as a caricature of the early alms-seeking denizens of weblog world?
begging actors–
even the horse’s ass
gets a blessing
begging at my gate
the geese lose
weight
p.s. Really Inadvertent or Nice Coincidence? I just learned from my Referer List that this
weblog had the #2 result, out of about 5 million, for the Google search why do women
for more Inadvertent Searchee fun.
offer no comment on today’s posting by the otherwise bon vivant Steve Bainbridge:
Pledge Break
The computer in my home office is dying a lingering death and I’m
going to have to order a replacement this week. So if you’ve been
thinking about hitting the tip jar in the left sidebar, now would be a
very opportune moment to do so. And I thank you.
Well, okay, maybe three questions: (1) will we at least get some special
programming, like they do during PBS pledge week? (2) what the heck will Steve do when
a good old California earthquake or forest fire strikes his home? and (3) to restore my faith in
macho neo-cons and libertarians, could someone please convince me that Prof. B is doing this
tongue-in-cheek as a caricature of the early alms-seeking denizens of weblog world?
begging actors–
even the horse’s ass
gets a blessing
begging at my gate
the geese lose
weight
p.s. Really Inadvertent or Nice Coincidence? I just learned from my Referer List that this
weblog had the #2 result, out of about 5 million, for the Google search why do women
for more Inadvertent Searchee fun.
from 