{"id":26237,"date":"2021-08-30T08:12:44","date_gmt":"2021-08-30T15:12:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/rachelswirsky.com\/?p=2546"},"modified":"2021-08-30T08:12:44","modified_gmt":"2021-08-30T15:12:44","slug":"haiku-roundup-for-august-2021","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/amptoons.com\/blog\/?p=26237","title":{"rendered":"Haiku Roundup for August 2021"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

I posted this a few years ago, but I think it’s worth posting again.<\/span><\/p>\n

A while back, during a phase when I was having trouble writing fiction, a friend of mine showed me a haiku they\u2019d been working on. I couldn\u2019t manage something like a whole story, but writing seventeen syllables of poetry came easily, and felt right.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

These poems are only sort of traditional haiku. For one thing, I used English syllables instead of trying to adapt English words to Japanese morae which are similar to syllables, but not the same. I did use a seasonal reference in the first line of each, but they aren\u2019t necessarily the kind of seasonal imagery that would have been used in a traditional poem. Also, I talked a lot more directly about what I was feeling, instead of using the metaphors to convey it.<\/span><\/p>\n

However, I did try to convey my thoughts as I experienced them in that transient moment. I also tried not to revise, to just let them be as they were. (I think I cheated a couple of times, though.)\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

These haikus aren\u2019t necessarily in order, and they\u2019re from a bit ago, so they won’t match up with the current weather, but I hope the words mean something to you.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Light through naked trees.
\n<\/span>My dreams were not peaceful, and
\n<\/span>I just want to sleep.<\/span><\/p>\n

In night\u2019s deep belly,
\n<\/span>midnight is a great crevasse,
\n<\/span>dark but sheltering.<\/span><\/p>\n

Pet me, please. Now, please.
\n<\/span>Stop tapping on that machine.
\n<\/span>I\u2019m here; I love you.<\/span><\/p>\n

Evening starts at three.
\n<\/span>I have a day\u2019s work to do
\n<\/span>in the waning light.<\/span><\/p>\n

The twilight sky bleeds
\n<\/span>to deeper and deeper shades
\n<\/span>of thoughtful Winter.<\/span><\/p>\n

Half-naked branches,
\n<\/span>black, with yellow flags waving
\n<\/span>gently in the wind.<\/span><\/p>\n

Bitter, windy, dark,
\n<\/span>clattering cold strikes the rain,
\n<\/span>sharp, overwhelming.<\/span><\/p>\n

Hasten through the cold,
\n<\/span>the wind pushing you backward.
\n<\/span>The windows are bright.<\/span><\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I posted this a few years ago, but I think it’s worth posting again. A while back, during a phase when I was having trouble writing fiction, a friend of mine showed me a haiku they’d been working on. I … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a> Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[253],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-26237","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-poetry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/amptoons.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26237","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/amptoons.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/amptoons.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/amptoons.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/amptoons.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=26237"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/amptoons.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26237\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":26238,"href":"https:\/\/amptoons.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26237\/revisions\/26238"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/amptoons.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=26237"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/amptoons.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=26237"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/amptoons.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=26237"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}