The typical early haijin was a Buddhist monk. Keeping in mind that haiku (haikai, hokku) were originally the opening to a renga which is a kind of poetic game played by many at a gathering or social atmosphere.
Renga is a longer poem and is based on mutual inspiration that plays off one-another and can be quite long. The opening three lines kind of set the stage, so to speak, in regards to location and time of year. Eventually, these opening lines became a separate art form which today is what we call haiku.
The concept being, as a result of zen Buddhist monks, is haiku should be more of a “personal experience expressed” than a poem “written”. Being centered and of an open, child like mind the monk didn’t “try” to add anything to the poem but rather receive the moment at hand, see it freshly, clearly and then translate the simplicity of the moment while keeping the layers of meaning in tact for the reader to tune in to as well……. sometimes the reader “gets it” immediately through the “sudden revelation” experience. But, usually there are layers that reveal themselves through the reader’s pondering over time as well.
One day, early on, I was talking to my wife and complaining that I hadn’t gotten an inspired haiku for awhile. I was explaining how I just wanted to see something and be “in the moment” again…. something simple yet layered with profundity.
Suddenly, while chatting, I noticed my shoes on the floor. They were sitting next to each other perfectly. Of course, I wasn’t wearing them and there were no socks sticking out from the top. I looked at my wife and said, “see there is a perfect example”. “There are two shoes…. sitting side by side…. empty…. just there on the carpet.” “I want something like that which could be very meaningful because the person that wears those two shoes could be dead, on vacation, asleep and on and on… there’s resonance.” She looked at me and said, “well, there’s the haiku you wanted”……. LOLL
It became the simplest haiku I’ve written to date yet the layers are immense.
two shoes
side by side
empty
(notice there is no reference to a nature or time of year so it is a more contemporary haiku than not)
When I went to clear out my father’s house after he had passed, his shoes were in the closet, side by side. It really hit me…….. and so does the haiku today.
Being in the moment, of open mind to see through “the fog” to clarity lies the path to profound haiku. They aren’t something we just write but rather something we experience.
Of course, we can sit and ponder old experiences…. come across new ones and even grab a haiku or two through imagination. But, how ever we come across one, they should be “experienced” emotionally, intellectually and psychologically more than simply “written” and belabored to have another poem “under the belt”.
We can labor over the structure but not the subject. Revelation is the key here…. for the haijin as well as the reader.
1)
on the bed
a sleeping dog
runs
2)
a peeking moon
watches the children-
hide and seek
3)
afternoon shadow
a frog jumps over
himself
4)
on his nose
a koi balances
the moon
5)
oh snail
you were there
yesterday!
My best suggestion is to read thousands of haiku of the old masters and then also ones of “contemporary” haijins. Get a feel for them rather than just study structure. Sense their rhythm and timing: ponder them for layers and let the “haiku experience as a reader as well as an author work through you rather than you working through it”.
Now, try a few yourself!
Don Baird
Former Dean of Education (Allpoetry.com)
for further reading:
http://allpoetry.com/column/show/423262
While I was Allpoetry Dean of Education, I had written a small expose regarding the "haiku experience". As it has come up missing, I was asked to write it again for students at allpoetry to re-visit. While differing from the original, this version retains the core of the former column.
Included in the list
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Comments
1 - 27 of 27
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Don, thank you for all of the wonderful information and examples that you have provided here. I'm so happy that I decided to browse through the poetry columns, because they led me to your haiku columns! I may have returned to AP after so many years just so I could dive into the waters of haiku and be inspired to explore this exhilarating form so much further! I loved your "two shoes" haiku
Linda
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Hi Linda... thanks so much!!!
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I've read your haiku "two shoes" prior to even joining allpoetry.com. It's nice to finally realize who you are, and how I've loved the poem, and how it came to be. Thank you
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Thank you so much. I appreciate your comment here very much. Welcome to Allpoetry. I hope you enjoy your experiences here. Take care, Don
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Thank-you so much for sharing
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full of detail and some thing i have never got a hold of the haiku just is not in me i have tried lovely column you made a lot of sense i think i actually found out why i could never get down a haiku every thing i had ever written about was not some thing i ever experienced
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I'm glad the column is helpful. I know I kind of simlified things, but simple seems to be so much more effective than complex.... LOLL Hopefully, you'll give haiku a shot again in the future some time. Take care.
Don
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Don
rekindles
my inspiration
Don, you've inspired many poets on this site to write haiku... and it's nice to see you keep on doing so...
Bunch of thanx for this educational column....
mina
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Thanks mina.... very much appreciated.
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Like 1, 3 and 5 above, quite good
Foreign Aid
money
given lovingly
vanished
-Eddy
I talked to a guy a few years after the soviet
breakup and he told me most of the money the US
sent was sitting out in the Baltic Sea where he
lives. We could do a lot of good IF the money
went to the right hands instead of the wrong ones.
What ever happened to neighbor helping neighbor
instead of government/state run programs? -
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Good political ku Eddy..... right on the "money", in fact!!!
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lol... A perfect pun...
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LOLL
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thank you you have peaked my interest.
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Thanks for the column!
not much more said
more here
and not much
http://allpoetry.com/poem/show/3654096 -
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Hey Jacob... thanks for coming by to comment. I love your zen ku....
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I am so glad I saw this column, Don.
Awesome!!! I've written over 50 haiku in the ten months I've been writing poetry. It is so good to get some really informative education on haiku like this. I am definitely going to be reading your poetry. So many of the haiku contests are strictly limited to 5-7-5, which is somewhat discouraging. Only one of my haiku out of more than 50 is not 5-7-5. I'm looking forward to learning to write contemporary haiku in fewer syllables. There are a few haiku contests that allow seventeen syllables or less, but they seem to be few and far between.
My name is also Don. -
So many contest holders expct such different things in the haiku entries. Good to get columns like this that give one a bit more about haiku and how to write them. Thanks...
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I know what you mean, grannyeri. There is so much misconception about haiku out there..... it's actually hard to believe. And oh WOW..... what they teach in school couldn't be further from the truth....LOLLL
Take care!
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Thank you for this bit of instruction. I am a realitive newcommer to the art of haiku and am thirsty for anything I can learn.
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Yay.... I'm glad the column has helped out. If you ever have a question, feel free to IM me.
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Thank you, Don, for taking the time to provide an additional column on the haiku experience. I will continue to reread as I strive to better understand this form and the thoughts and perceptions it rises from.
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You're welcome. It's a pleasure.
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This is a beautiful column. I'm so glad I requested for it I need some chocolate cake and cookies from those who stop by for the inspiration
LOLOL...
You said it all so well. Thank you so much for writing this rightaway. I really appreciate that immense.
Big hug,
Charishma
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This is just wonderful, Don. I love reading and writing haiku (maybe you remember me expressing that before) I haven't written one in quite awhile, though so your column renews my inspiration.
Are you planning to do another class on haiku? I sure hope so If so I definitly want to enfoll.
This column, a lesson in itself, is going straight into my bookmarks. Thanks for such an interesting write.
Dee
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Hi Dee! Great seeing you drop by. Finally, I have a little more time on my hands so, first thing..... I'm back here a bit more! *laugh*
I remember you loving haiku and wanting to write them more. Sounds like they "oopsed" away? hahaa Right now the School of Poetry at Allpoetry has a good haiku teacher.... but, in the future, maybe I can do it again. That would be fun.
I have two columns on haiku.... you probably have the old one already but if not, it is posted on my author page.... just scroll down through all the *^&^&*), hahaa
Take care friend.... and see ya around allpoetry.
Don -
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Hello there stranger
s
Would you mind if I added this to the reading lists we're trying to build on the AP Classes page?
s ~Genie~
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