Three Little Lines

1) haiku* untitled: october winds of scattered maple leaves ~ handwritten poems 2) a three-line poem titled: OF AUTUMN LEAVES AND ALL a three-line poem is open to free verse, alliteration or rhyme October winds wakening the muse within the silence of each mime advice to all that if you can’t do the time don’t do the crime 3) a free verse poem titled: SO LONG AGO in the flurry of October winds the dance of scarlet maple leaves reminded me of how I loved you so *HAIKU RULES I joined a national Haiku club to discover they are sticklers for rules and there are MANY MANY haiku rules ~ HAIKU is exactly the opposite of free verse in every possible way ~ In a nutshell ~ haiku are supposed to be observations of a moment in nature without embellishments, no passing judgment, no use of fantasy or abstract concepts. It's basically two simple ideas with a ‘turn’ that is essential: it's almost like the punchline of a joke but haiku is not really meant to be funny per se. Here is an informal list of HAIKU GUIDELINES: 1. 5-7-5 is the max syllable count – “haiku should be read in one breath” so there can be less syllables per line. 2. ALWAYS NATURE-related with usually reference to 1 of the 4 seasons: spring, summer, fall, winter. 3. OFTEN the ‘turn’ is on the second line (takes the reader in another direction). 4. NO unnecessary capitalization. 5. NO title (if you must, use first word(s) of haiku). 6. NO unnecessary punctuation at end of lines. 7. NO use of abstract concepts (must be concrete). 8. NO personification. 9. NO unnecessary adjectives or adverbs. 10. NO full sentences: it’s a poem of few words with much left unsaid. 11. NO use of fantasy. 12. NO similes allowed. 13. NO explanation of haiku in last line. 14. NO heavy emotional words (should be felt not read). 15. MUST have a feeling of the present moment (NO past or future). 16. MUST be more than a description. 17. MAX 2 ideas (scenery + thought). 18. Rare use of I, you or we. Sometimes we love what we created and it goes against many of the haiku rules ~ there's nothing wrong with creating “haiku-like” poems, they can be quite effective… we just should not call them ‘haiku’. AP: Honorable Mention 2021 Posted on May 19, 2021