I’ve successfully procrastinated the morning away since dropping Julia at work. I blogged, I slept, I composed twelve haiku on modern subjects, I reflected on Clerihews and their superiority to haiku and I replied to a few comments. I even read one post from someone else. It was fascinating, though it didn’t seem promising at first. Try Repro Arts of Great Yarmouth. It’s a print shop, but one that has made at least one fascinating blog post. I say “at least” because I have not yet read any of the others. They may all be fascinating, but in line with my theme for the morning, I’m going to read the rest later.
I recently invented a new poetic form – the haiklerihew. So far the world’s stock of haiklerihews is one. It’s probably all we need. I’m thinking I might have a crack at the clerihu next, though amalgamating a four line humorous poem nobody values with a three line nature poem that people are very serious about could take some doing.
from ancient Japan we have Basho
who never has gone out of fashion
deep in the woodlands
a nature cliche gestates
serious poem
I’ve amalgamated the first two lines of the clerihew, with the name, then added a haiku underneath. Clerihews, for those of you who have missed previous efforts, are allowed to be bad in terms of rhyme and scansion. I think I have achieved that here.
The haiku is a bit unkind, but some of them are a bit cliched in terms of the nature reference – I know mine are. I’ve used the 5-7-5 syllable format which is now seen as a bit old-fashioned – that way you can tell it’s a haiku. I had to change woods to woodlands to get the five in the first line, which is in the bad poetry tradition of the Clerihew.
All in all, a satisfactory poetic form, and much better than the haiklerihew.
I’m now going to brace myself for death threats from haiku poets.
Writers of Clerihews are much more laid back.
I’d not heard of clerihu before.
Earlier this year, I was teaching creative writing and one of my Japanese students enlightened me on haiku: they are are supposed to refer to the seasons in some way. It can be indirect, so for example, he wrote one on daffodils (ie a haiku about spring). But I guess that means they don’t have to be about nature in that case, so if I do the course again and have any Japanese students I will try to find out more.
As far as I know, that’s the only clerihu in existence. 🙂
Definitions of haiku are notoriously difficult and contradictory, but daffodils sound like a good start.
http://www.webdelsol.com/Perihelion/acmarticle.htm
This is fun. I wouldn’t call your morning procrastination
Thank you. I really do need to work harder, snoozing is not an activity. 🙂
I thought this one was going to grow into a Limerick. Have the same reticence about haiku. That obligatory non sequitur of a third line usually raises my eyebrows.
Yes, it has something of the limerick about it – as it grew to five lines it definitely wanted to rhyme.
Maybe in its next incarnation, the morphing of tanka into limerick.
Stranger things have happened…
🙂
I am now waiting for the haikhewimerick
I was struck by that possibility myself when I saw the five line format, but it is going to take some thought…
You have been busy! 🙂
I have my moments, but I did manage to sleep most of the morning away. 🙂
Of course, cats sleep their lives away and everyone likes cats…
Phew!!!! In fact you have been very busy.
I write a good day. 🙂
Well I for one think your Haiklerihew is sensational!
Thank you. 🙂