Recently I posted a Haiku on my front page. Here are a thing or two about Haiku.
I like poetry. To me, it is an artist’s painting in words. Inspirational or situational, poetry is a door into an artist’s dimension. I feel that inside everyone, there is an artist. Some express it with their paintings & drawings, some with sculptures, some with writing and more on. Art is a skill. Artists are gifted people who are more dearer to the God. Yet every artist strives for expression in her art. Art takes humongous efforts, which the artist hides in her smooth expressions. My respect is always highest to the artists.
Sadly though, I was way farther being an artist. It is not that I never tried art. Perhaps, I am not worth to create art. I tried drawing and painting and colouring and photography and what not and what not. I was always as amateur. I have depth for art, but I always lacked the efforts. Fool I am! And poetry was a south pole for me. In my whole life, I could never create poetry! Rhymes and words, ohh god, it is fearsome! I tried poetry, but the contexts were not good. (You can clearly see, why I became a businessman, and not an artist!)
But then I found about Haiku. A Haiku is a Japanese form of poetry, where you don’t have to worry about rhymes or words or grammar. Even you don’t have to worry about depth (perhaps, nobody thinks writing poetry without depth though). The rules are easy.
All you need to do is to follow a simple structure of 5-7-5. Five syllables in first row, seven in second, and five in third.
You need to take care of three things though. In the first row, you have to express what you see or what is there or a fact. In the second row, you have to express what you feel. And in the third row, you have to express its meaning into your life. All within the rule of 5-7-5. It is like a quote dressed in some manner with the emphasis on the present, the feeling, and the meaning.
For example, today I was in the city at noon. Sun was high and it was hot outside. I forgot to wear my shoes, and instead I had my slip-ons on. I was on my scooter and my toes were literally burning because of that summer heat. When I noticed that, my meaning was, does it matter? life has already played many games. It is as it is.
I donno if I’d continue writing Haiku. I usually easily get bored when I find secrets of things. But, art is not a thing, it is an ocean with an unending depth. Let’s hope, I don’t find secrets of Haiku – so that I may continue writing them.
When Haiku blinks in my mind, I don’t know how, but picture of a serene beach pops in my mind. Don’t you know I am fascinated by beaches!