PACE Global Haiku • PACE September 2015 |
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30's Life by I was born and raised in a small town north east of Decatur. I graduated from a high school with 350 students, so all I have known is more of a small town type of living. I now live in Decatur with my husband of nine years (Patrick) and four year old son (Karsyn). I titled my collection 30's Life for a couple of reasons: one I am currently in my 30's and these haiku are based on real things, events, or scenery that I have witnessed while in this class. The second reason is because I couldn't have written some of these haiku in my teens or twenties because I didn't have a child nor did I live in the same house or have the same route to work every day, the same job nor was I in a haiku class! I didn’t really know much about haiku prior to this class. When talking to peers or coworkers about the next class I was taking, once they heard what the class was they all seemed to have the same response. “Isn’t that a poem with 5/7/5”, at first I said maybe. I didn’t really have a clue and that seemed to be the consensus of those I spoke with so it must have been a poem with (5/7/5) a 3 lined poem with five syllables in the first line, seven syllables in the second line and five syllables in the third line. After the first night of class I quickly learned that the 5/7/5 method was really not what we were going to be focused on, yes we were going to be doing short three lined poems but we were not focused on syllables. I have learned that haiku are typically a poem made up of three lines that tell a story, but leave room for interpretation by the reader. Haiku are generally filled with sensory words, if you close your eyes you can see yourself in that place doing that specific task. The haiku might make you think of something similar that you have experienced as well. Haiku has made me stop and think about my surroundings and self-awareness and that just looking out your window you can write a haiku. |
three inches of dust |
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long winding road |
under the sparkling tree |
in the woods around |
the lonely tree stands |
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deep in the woods
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© 2015, Randy Brooks • Millikin University
All rights returned to authors upon publication.