INTERNATIONAL HAIKU DAY and POETRY FRIDAY
International Haiku Day on April 17 is a great opportunity to dust off haiku skills. Our backyard forsythia inspired me. We have never had the good fortune to witness this New England harbinger of spring in our yard until this year in a new home.
A bit of process here - notebook, pencil, phone camera were my tools. Next, close observation, appreciation, brainstorming. Blossoms, bloom, yellow, lemon, burst, thicket, hope filled my list and crafting began. I don't feel constricted by the 5-7-5 syllable "rule", because English words tend to be longer than Japanese, and I feel a shorter syllable count is more true to the nature of the haiku form.
"Yellow thicket became lemon thicket, and you can see where this is going... "Lemony Snicket" popped into my brain, and the rest fell into place. "A Series of Unfortunate Events" is a polite way of describing the times we're living through, and probably best for a poem. I have found it difficult to maintain the optimism with which others often characterize me. Hope is sometimes buried, but the re-appearance of spring encourages me.
hope blossoms
midst unfortunate events -
lemony thicket
I was pleased to have some haiku accepted by Moonstone Arts for their April 17 celebration. It's my first experience with them, and I like their philosophy and mission.
I've been away for a long time. It's wonderful to know that Poetry Friday celebrations are as robust as ever. Thanks to Heidi over at My Juicy Little Universe for rounding up the poetry community and posting a video on teaching poetry!
Hi, Joyce. It is good to see you at Poetry Friday this week. I enjoyed your post and the forsythia poem with the clever ending. If you are interested, I am creating a new spring gallery of artistic expressions. The invitation is at my post that is next to your icon at Heidi's blogpost.-Carol Varsalona
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