Scared little Sparrows
Leave before the Hawks appear
Cats wait in safety.
—holden klass
This was my first attempt at Haiku. When read and taken literally, it follows the 5-7-5 syllable structure and paints a natural scene. Those are the main parts of Japanese Haiku. BUT! You can take this Haiku metaphorically where the sparrows are vulnerable and powerless, the hawks are powerful and aggressive, and the cats are just biding their time waiting for any chance to take advantage. That metaphorical scene of power and vulnerability in humans would be a good example of Senryū. Put simply, Senryū tend to be about human foibles while Haiku tend to be about nature, and Senryū are often cynical or darkly humorous while Haiku are more serious. Well, maybe you already knew all of that. But it was new to me. I'll be working on some more of these in the coming days. They're kinda fun to write.
—dave
No comments:
Post a Comment