Going into a college-level haiku class, I was a little apprehensive.
Would I enjoy writing those 5-7-5 syllable poems I knew from middle school? Would I even be any good?
I was excited too, to learn a new art form and engage in writing - one of my all time favorite activities. Stretching my creative bone would be a privilege that I would take advantage of.
… But aren't haiku pretentious and only suited to being discussed in a leather armchair with a good Malbec, or alternatively, in a zen garden somewhere deep in Japan? What could I, an American, middle class college student do with that?
I like to argue that this close-mindedness only passed through my head briefly, but it was still on the back burner as I sat down and proceeded to write haiku: some good, some bad, most of them in between.
You see, writing haiku helps you take a pause in your day to smell the proverbial roses. It quickly infiltrates your mind's pathways and alters the way you see the world unfolding around you.
You begin to stop and notice the little delights your senses are picking up all the time whether or not you're conscious of them. The senses are poetry's best friends, and while working to whittle an experience down to its literary essence of three lines brings beautiful metaphors and amalgams of sensation to the surface. The 5-7-5 syllable rule was shown to be a mistranslation, and a haiku can range from two to four or more lines so long as it is still trying to distill the human experience. That freedom helped me to realize the power of a great haiku: it helps you understand and appreciate humanity and nature's never-ending tango in a bite-sized sensual snack for the mind and soul.
It has become mediation of sorts for me, and to celebrate the Odyssey's recent decision to begin publishing original poetic and fictional work, I have decided to take the dive and share some of my haiku work with you.
Take these haiku as a gently arcing narrative that is meant to be savored like a strong cup of peppermint tea on a bracing afternoon - slowly and with focus. It is suggested to read each haiku more than once for optimal potency.
Thank you, enjoy, and when you're done, go write haiku about the highlights of your week!
"Time Shuffles" Haiku Anthology by Genevieve Breitbach
Time shuffles, slides —
The old man’s saunter
down the airport’s moving walkway
sploosh!
A thrown pebble collision
The world wrinkles
despair pairs with hope
like wine &
after dinner mints
falling face first
into summer stars
— the lake winks back
Glowing orb floats
To join the Milky Way
As we watch what we launched
Dragonfly zings—
—by my shoulder
Chemtrail
sting of a kumquat
sits on the tongue
like words unsaid
Punch thrown
Through the dry-wall
Of my chest
Students hunch
To class
Like angry penguins
cherry berry
study break
man begs for a dollar
my coffee black
to prove
I can handle you
cracked ring dish
she has no right
to still want him
I wiggle my toes
walking on the moon
upside down
ping pong
raindrops play by themselves
against the brick
Friendship peeks out
Between the racks
Salvation army
leaning into the thunder
diamond shards
infiltrate lungs
Horse and man
Grow greyer as the years get
Plowed into stories
Sheetal Tadiparty
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