HI-KU is any English language variation on the cultural Japanese haiku
This contains examples of my hi-ku with a few pointers about this image form & the extension into the tanka.
The poetry is my copyright but maybe used for educational purposes provided advice thereof is sent to strandbg@aol.com
HIKU defined
Without any syllabic( 5-7-5 ) line restrictions, the hiku is the 'free verse' version of the haiku,similar but different ,a present tense poetic in another language - hiku is the written or recited equivalent to arts 'gestural spontaneous happening'
HAIKU is a centuries old Japanese traditional phonetical & cultural poetic form whereas HIKU is a relatively recently established English language version thereof 'birthed' from last half of the 20th century. Hiku is an imagist tristich like its elder cousin,without a title,and with a similar economy of words ,inherently enigmatic & with a caesura or an ellipsis and surprise ending. A similar sense of pause the aesthetic insight flowing from perception gained from 'one breath length ' composition that flowed from the Japanesese 17 onji sound inherent in the haiku. Without any syllabic( 5-7-5 ) line restrictions, the hiku is the 'free verse' version of the haiku,similar but different ,a present tense poetic in another language - hiku is the written or recited equivalent to arts 'gestural spontaneous happening' .
* ONE BREATH LENGTH to correspond to the aforementioned Japanesese 17 onji sounds.
The essence without "telling all" (thereby to ' show ' conforming to the key of all true imagist poetry),&avoids 'as'&'to' & the use of past tense verbs (& is often without verbs,adverbs,adjectives )A verse freed from strict syllabic constraint within its triplicity of format& is inherently enigmatic & often with a caesura and surprise ending( VERSUM )to give a 'turning' to the line.The hiku maybe a horizontal single* line,(often broken line at the caesura),a vertical line(usually a painting(haiga) ,a couplet** or a tristich***
*strand by strand decadence unravels moral fibre
**a dew trail across the lawn...
' neath the shed winter quarters
*** a blue plume rising
from camp ashes-
yesterday's visions still haunt
WHY hi-ku
hi-ku (is a label I use to differentiate English language 'haiku' from the translations of the original Japanese verseform)
POETRY OF THE NOUN
Many older Japanese haiku poets wrote haiku without verbs,adverbs,adjectives ,hence my title today.Of course they wrote in Japanese so such a theory do not always easily
cross/transfer linguistic barriers. my hi-ku in that style
evening perfume
a flower blossom primrose
memory of you
Keys to Hi-Ku in English
Hi-Ku Image
Image” that ..unique instant of time.. the presentation of which gives a sense of sudden liberation; a sense of freedom from time ... and space .. that sense ... experienced in the presence of works of art..unrepeatable.. tangible to the moment.
but
SHOW DON'T TELL
to show rather than tell is the key to true imagist poetry ,sadly much English language hi-ku have words to avoid ,like 'as'&'to' and also use past tense verbs in their hi-ku ,thus the verse is ' imagery ' rather than imagist ,by emphasising 'telling' rather.. than letting their 'words' show( as my example does above )a subtle difference yet so often a major flaw in penning hi-ku( and many other poetry forms) in English
so
HI-KU MOMENT
the concept of a "haiku moment" based in personal experience, and provides the motive for writing a haiku is an aesthetic moment' of a timeless feeling of enlightened harmony as the poet's nature and the environment are unified'[ quote by Ken Yusada]
- impressionistic brevity
- short succinct syntax; no superfluous words
- emphasis on imagery over exposition
- avoidance of metaphor and similes
- It is better to present one Image in a lifetime than to produce voluminous works.EZRA POUND
whereas
JAPANESE HAIKU
It has been said the genius of haiku is using an economy of words to paint a multi-tiered painting, without "telling all". Or as Matsuo BashÅ the master of the haiku puts it The haiku that reveals seventy to eighty percent of its subject is good. Those that reveal fifty to sixty percent, we never tire of.
anyway...A FEW OF EXAMPLES OF MY HIKU
oe'r the horizon
yesterday's imperfections -
look,tomorrow waits
light through darkness
spills
a verdant slyvan idyll-
night concedes day
the email opens-
through a veil of tears
a rainbow appears
see also my one line hiku ,broken monoku @ http://monoku-ichthys.blogspot.com
and..
TANKA
the tanka solves the difficult problem of SHOW don't tell ...
for the first 3 lines (the hi-ku) is the 'show'
& the last 2 comments thereon (the tell)
here are my tanka to illustrate
COMPENDIUM OF TANKA
on the wind
a bell tolls
memories surface-
words unerased-
remain
with a tremor of light-
daybreak tinges
the nigrescent sky grey-
tomorrow appears
distinct in my mind's eye
without-
the waning sun
warms my face
shalom cloaks
the wells within
hanging from the trees
winter fog welcomes the dawn
and obscures the light--
cobwebs shimmer
necklaced to the hedge
huddled together
from the heeting rain
the unbrellas mob the hearse-
then in twos
slowly separate
the diary
fell
pages scattered the floor
memories lie
just out of reach
spoor tracks
imprint
the virgin snow-
footsteps of yesteryear
echo in my mind
chill breath
of dawn lights
upon my window-pane
nighttimes promises
freeze into crystal
above the still strand
shrieks of seagulls
die on the inshore breeze-
our twin footsteps disappear
as sunset dissolves
november the fifth-
layered rolls of liquid fog
envelope the bonfire-
the party becomes a
damp squib
HAIBUN
Haibun is Japanese in origin( Basho being its more prolific example thereof) comprising a prose paragraph plus a haiku related thereto)... in its English form the poetic aspect may also be a tanka,or other short imagist form ie a broken monoku, spaces or cinqku,cinquain crystalline etc (see my other blogs)
The haibun may be a (standard,where a haiku etc follows the prose) or (afterword where prose follows the haiku) or prose envelope (prose para haliku,para) verse envelope(haiku prose haiku) or interlaced (chorus, verse, chorus) or verse sequence (haiku,prose,haiku,haiku etc)
,
Here are some examples of mine whichare my copyright but maybe used for educational purposes provided an acknowledgment is given and advice therof emailed to Strandbg@aol.com)
a haibun ABSTRACTION
The soft yellow streaked the terra cotta,shadowing the speckled sallow saffron
a bluish buff upon the cochineal;brilliant boneblack grizzled the engrain
citrine carnation as the fallow flaxen,rustic rubrical rainbow-tinted
the magenta mandarine;unseen the ultra-marine, tinged burnt sienna,
reflecting a golden flame of raw umbery upon the earth green;bright mosaic gold
mottled the sallow sorrel virent yellow,oak stained the pale apricot;while
blood red,reddish russetdotted the olive lind;freckled crimson,a chestnut maroon,
on fuchsias faded apple green as burnt rumber sank deep into its sanguine slumber.
I walk through the glade
abstractions enlighten me-
colour my rainbow
WINTER HAIBUN (Afterword )
shapes spread statuesque
foliage in Winter clothes-
melancholy me
BEAUTY a haibun verse envelope
togetherness lives
in the subtle scents of love-
as ego retreats
Beauty is something we see with individual eyes,only time can reveal imperfections of conceit.Deep within our soul resides attraction ,waiting,asleep yet longing to be aroused.Our need to be recognised,reciprocate and hold close.A certain something,intercourses between eyes,a novel read by a glance ,might last a lifetime.
across a room, looks
can indelibly imprint-
with love at first sight
OF LIVES PAST a haibun prose envelope
Perfection is an illusive pastime ,an unending quest that hides delusion in uncharted waters on life's path.Distractions,obstacles spring up unannouced, by chance,opportunities deflate in despair.Again,again,the siren's call. beckons innocent naivety,nothing is simple one is alive.
uniquely ourselves
littered by our obsessions-
loneliness cries out
One is alive ,each day, breathing,eating living, yet separate, alone but part of another,blood smeared by genes linked ,chain by chain in generations pattern.We wait and wait in line,repeating the same mistakes,treading the same circle.Imaging progress is reality,pretending we are wise and certain.Never to wonder why!
SEASONAL haibun
When Spring comes again not the warmth..nor the rain
not the yellow ..nor the green not the grass or verdant scene;
not the winds or blossom bright not the showers or more daylight;
but hearing creation's new birth shouted aloud in sky and earth.
When Summer her beauty displays not short nights nor lengthy days
not vacations or tourist sights not the festivals nor village fetes
not the wildlife nor abour foliates but the garden all nature in flower,eye-catchingly dressed.When Autumn readies for harvest not her full silos nor baskets imprest not mellow vistas seen nor dressed trees, yellow-red not Indian Summer's embrace nor late coloured flower beds not Fall's living collage or wine newly pressed not for walks in the woods or nature's largesse but in thanksgiving ,daily blessed for all the Lord's bountifulness.
creations new birth
each season to us reveals
God’s love in action
WHY NOT ALSO CHECK OUT MY BLOGS ON
OPEN FORM https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/2699670104199896430/3849128588764507235
FOOTLE FORM
http://footle-ichthys.blogspot.com
