Monday, August 18, 2008

Haiku. Do You?

If you know anything about haiku then you probably know it is a form of poetry, Japanese in origin I believe, that is generally about something in nature and follows the pattern of three lines, five syllables in the first line, seven syllables in the second, and five again in the third. (I think that all this back-to-school shopping has caused me to channel my inner teacher here. Sorry.)

Most of the time I'm good at following the rules, particularly the number of syllables thing (sometimes being an accountant is handy), but the one haiku rule I violate more than I follow is one about it being something about nature. Oh well, less anal retentive people tell me that rules are made to be broken. I, on the other hand, fret that when I present what I see as a flawed poem, such as the one below, everyone reading it will be thinking how awful it is because I didn't follow that one rule rather than appreciating the message within.

Such is the life of the OCD perfectionist. . .

Life as Dance
by Trueself

Life is like a dance
If one is well partnered then
It is no trouble

If one is alone
The dance can still be quite good
Solo performance

If one has wrong mate
It becomes awkward, clumsy
Stepping the wrong way

I prefer dancing
With the right partner most times
Solo act others

Join me in the dance
Go with the flow, oh but please
Don’t step on my toes


2 comments:

Jeni Angel said...

My co-worker's husband helped design this site if you are interested:

www.haikuvillage.com

I loved the haiku . . .maybe you should submit :-)

Trueself said...

Jeni - Cool site. I had no idea it existed. Thanks. I'm not confident enough to submit it, but I'm glad you like it.