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Susan Cowger

Art & Poetry

Art Poetry

DO NOT RUN

by Susan Cowger 12 Comments

Uh-Oh. April is National Poetry Month.

You have an assignment…

Don’t run! It’s only a haiku—the 17 syllable English form of a kind of Japanese poem. But the parameters are simple. NO, it doesn’t have to have all that HDM (hidden deep meaning). More like small observations. In a nutshell:

3 lines of syllables (5,7,5)
A mention of nature. And a seasonal reference.
A caesura or natural pause in the poem—frequently at the end of the second line.
Has strong sensory images (nouns and verbs –not so many adjectives, prepositions etc).
Happens in the present
No titles.
No punctuation necessary. These are not necessarily sentences-they are phrases.
They are not proverbs masquerading as poems—the images do the talking (i.e. show don’t tell)

Begin with an observation—see if you can avoid the predictable.

One a day for the whole month. JUST TRY IT! Like anything, some will be winners and some will be there simply because. Put them in my “thoughts?”

Even in giving
Make a place for emptiness
The gift of a bowl
`

April 1, 2009 , haiku, Poetry Blog

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Craig Schafer says

    May 6, 2009 at 7:24 am

    April 1never done hikus before but love poetry

    who likes this halo
    winter spring summer or fall
    i like 3 best of all
    April 1, 2009 8:57 PM

    Reply
  2. Pig Woman says

    April 4, 2009 at 4:21 am

    Hahahah See, I don’t even get my own poem.

    Reply
  3. Susan Cowger says

    April 4, 2009 at 1:40 am

    Piggy Woman–Dante-esque, that’s what I’d call your poem. Hmmmm tongues of fire, and ocean of inferno, power from below, able to quench but unquenched…

    Reply
  4. Kathy says

    April 3, 2009 at 6:01 pm

    I got the waves. ;o)

    Thinking about my haiku…

    Reply
  5. Pig Woman says

    April 3, 2009 at 1:42 am

    Oh Man! You didn’t get it. No HDM. I was talking about waves, Seesta, waves.

    Reply
  6. Susan Cowger says

    April 2, 2009 at 11:36 pm

    Why mah seesta is a poet afterall. Even went for the HDM—daring and bold! Hell of a good poem.

    Reply
  7. Craig and Bethany says

    April 2, 2009 at 10:25 pm

    LOVE it!

    Reply
  8. Pig Woman says

    April 2, 2009 at 4:58 pm

    Insatiable tongues
    Licking the earth’s foundation
    Rabid foam remains

    Do you get it? Do you get it?

    Reply
  9. Craig and Bethany says

    April 2, 2009 at 5:29 am

    son called ’em brownies
    sister burgeoned glee au jus
    for fire roasted chop

    Reply
  10. Craig Schafer says

    April 2, 2009 at 4:57 am

    This comment has been removed by the author.

    Reply
  11. Charles Fishburn says

    April 2, 2009 at 2:23 am

    Well, I’m not sure I’ll make it for the whole month, but here’s a starter:

    Winter stays the day
    when flakes dance writhing downward
    where are you oh spring

    Reply
  12. Anonymous says

    April 1, 2009 at 8:56 pm

    i’m in and up and running….

    Reply

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