for those who may be wondering why people like mjk and myself are churning out similar haikus every day.
It was a confluence of circumstances made me decide to write a Haiku a day, every
day,for the year 2006. After years of back-burnering writerly pursuits, the time had come
to get the old ass in gear and focus. Finish the novel. Put some stuff out into the world for
feedback. Develop the talent. Participation in this forum addresses these issues. It was
the muscular, refined, and creative ways that a number of writers in the forum use words
that quickly convinced me that the third of these issues needed immediate attention if I
hoped to reach my potential. I required daily practice to develop any talent that might be
there. A visit to a 'Haiku train' in another part of the forum and a Christmas gift of a book of
photographs illustrating Buddhist wisdom for every day of the year gave me the idea: one
Haiku for each photo each day.
My thoughts today, a mere fifteen haiku into an opus that will contain
three hundred and
sixty five different entries? Firstly, gratitude that it is not a leap year. (rim shot kachang)
It is unquestionably a daunting prospect, but then, it is
only one a day. Three lines,
seventeen lousy syllables. It can be done. In fact, thus far, it's been a fun and rewarding
experience. The photos I work from are stunning in their depth, aliveness, and beauty.
Creating the little poems requires a sustained attentiveness, a surrender to the image
while the subconcious is being mined for the words that will work. Then there is the
crafting of the Haiku: mixing, matching, inserting, deleting, getting a line, put it on top- no,
bottom, often changing everything right up until the moment of posting. Counting
syllables on the fingers 5-7-5 again and again. The delight when something feels right.
A number of forum participants- O.K., just one, who, likely not coincidentally, describes
herself as being lost in a desert- have expressed interest in obtaining the same book and
writing haikus along with me from the same photographs. This can be done every day or
from time to time over the year. All the photos coincide with a particular date. It would be
delightful if any other writers were interested in doing the same thing, so here is the book
info:
Offerings
Buddhist wisdom for every day
by Danielle and Olivier Follmi
published by Stewart, Tabori, and Chang
New York
It is definitely available at indigo.ca and likely at amazon.com as well.
It would be amazing to see the similarities and differences in the interpretations of the
same photograph by different people around the world on a daily basis.
If I were teaching a novice how to finish drywall, I'd have him mud nailholes first. Nailhole
after nailhole until some dexterity with the blade was achieved. Then he or she would be
ready to move on to seams and corners. I see these haiku in much the same way: part
of a craft that one- particularly one like me who hasn't written a heck of alot- must learn
by doing. I don't see how this exercise, this practice, can help but benefit any writer who
aspires to greatness. cheers jrmac
