Every once in a while, people get it into their heads that they would make great poets. Then they write a couple of poems they think are absolute gold and gradually lose interest in the art form. I am trying to not be that person.
I got interested in poetry, sometime in late 2017 and I decided I would learn about the different styles of poetry that existed. I read about sonnets, epics, limericks, and haikus. The last two caught my interest most of all.
For those who have never heard of a haiku, it is a Japanese poem that consists of only seventeen syllables that are written in 3 lines. Traditionally, the first line has five syllables, the second has seven and the third has five again.
However, I noticed that some modern haikus do not follow that pattern. But that’s okay. Being the beginner I am, I am content to start traditional and then, if my interest doesn’t wane, move on to something more adventurous.
Typically, haikus are used to describe the natural environment and what can be seen. It is usually really straightforward. Unfortunately, mine are not in the best of shape. You know how poetry makes people just try too hard? That’s me.
Here are my haikus, exposed for the world to see.
1. Crusty eyes open wide
Sun bright, morning’s glory
Waking death in peril
I wrote this one when I tried and failed to get out of bed in the morning.
2. Bright stars in the sky
Resemble headlamps of cars
It is a good night
As you can guess, this was written at night.
3. No tweeting birdies
To wake me up this morning
The winter blessing
This was written based on a random reflection of how long I sleep in on Saturdays in university.
4. Yellow in the morn
Golden Pythagoras west
Darkness calling forth
This is a bit more ambiguous. I wrote this while watching the sunset. Strangely, the world wasn’t straight and the line of the horizon combined with the light to form a right-angled triangle. Pythagoras, get it?
For some reason, it was easier for me to create multiple badly written haikus than a single badly written limerick. Limericks are really popular and are usually the bases of nursery rhymes. A limerick is a funny verse poem of three long lines and two short lines following the AABBA rhyming scheme.
After much effort, I was able to come up with one limerick.
5. There are no leaves on winter trees
All blown away by the fall breeze
The trees dying
Umbrellas flying
Noses go numb and fingers freeze
That was written when I was trying to describe my first experience with winter in Syracuse.
All in all, I hope my amateur poetry made you crack a smile. Hopefully, I won’t lose interest and will thus have something actually good to present one day.
Feel free to comment your thoughts on which was the best or worst!
