Tuesday, September 05, 2006

Why I Dislike Most Modern Haiku

Ok. Here it is. I don't like most of what I read as modern haiku. Why? Because it really isn't haiku at all! It's something called senryu. Senryu uses haiku form and format but instead of using nature as subject, takes the human drama instead. You know, everthing that happens to us.

I dont' know about you but I've about had it with human drama. That's what drew me to haiku in the first place. Here was a poetry of elegant simplicity where I could turn and escape from the world for a while. Now we have poets who just don't seem to get the "haiku mindset" which, in my mind at least, explores the miracle of the natural world. Instead we get clever little poems about something happening in our world.

There's nothing wrong per se with senryu. Except that I really don't like it that much.

Comments:
I agree with you for the most part. However for myself, a number of the posts I make to my blog are not haiku but senryu (or tanka). But I don't set out to write specifically one or the other. I just record moments in my life...what I see and feel. Many times they turn out to be haiku. Other times they don't. I'll be pleased if you like at least a few of them. :-)
 
Post a Comment

Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]





<< Home

This page is powered by Blogger. Isn't yours?

Subscribe to Posts [Atom]