Haiku - Alliteration's Dawning Iteration Reiteration Poem by Jonathan ROBIN

Haiku - Alliteration's Dawning Iteration Reiteration



Flamingo flames flare
flair fitfully fashions fey
fanfare fireworks fair

(20 April 2013)

POET'S NOTES ABOUT THE POEM
Poetical rules
should be ingrained then ignored,
only true heart schools
Poetical forms
should serve, and not be served,
naught, deserved, conforms
Muse poetical
mocks lock's lined paradox box, shocks
rerole versicle

'A flash of lightning. The sound of drops among the bamboo'

The flash of lightning cannot ignore the pillow-words offered by Kanji pictograms that English lacks. Without entering into sterile arguments over what constitutes haiku in English, just a few lines to outline my personal position. Included here are haiku, senryu, tanka and wryku.

For those who parade their ignorance of Japanese and Chinese poetical traditions in comments complaining that images are distracting one should respectfully point out that they had been used for several thousand years before Chaucer and Skelton inter alia created the basis for traditional classical English language poetry and, incidentally, contemporary rap.

As a general rule I adhere to the 5 7 5 syllables explicitly using pillow words [double meanings] where possible and, unless parodying other haiku, senryu or tanka, have for several years rhymed the first and third lines.
The reason for this rhyme is explicitly to heighten the relationship between content and context.

One leaves to the reader's appreciation to weigh the arguments for and against the use of a fixed number of syllables to define haiku or senryu in English language poetry. utamakura 歌 枕 or Pillow Words, refer to place names used in Japanese poetry, encodes a specific reference to a seasonal or historical context. Mentioning YOSHINO gives the reader all the background of the Cherry Blossoms and Yoshitsune.They are similar to 'makura kotoba' 枕 詞, 枕 言 葉, 'pillow words', normal words used as codes to bring out a mood or mental scene. See also kakekotoba 掛 詞 a kind of pun having more than one meaning that may add a funny or serious twist to a poem.
COMMENTS OF THE POEM
READ THIS POEM IN OTHER LANGUAGES
Close
Error Success