My Latest Poems: Murdered Haiku

First, I would like to thank those of you who have been reading, liking, and/or commenting on my poems. You're much appreciated. 

For the last one to two months I've been playing with modifications of the haiku that I'm calling "murdered haiku." Traditional haiku have three lines that alternate 5-7-5 syllables (it is usually written in a single column in Japanese, so the three-line form is conventional to English translations), generally have a seasonal reference (so tend to be about nature), ideally do not have verbs (should communicate stillness), juxtapose two images with a word that cuts between them, and if you want to be very traditional, include some kind of play on words or pun, which isn't necessarily humorous in the original. 

Closely related forms are Senryū, which can be humorous, eliminates the cutting word, and has a human subject; and Tanka, which follows a 5-7-5-7-7 pattern. I follow these forms by starting with a 5-7-5 pattern which is then interrupted with hyphens, brackets, and then extended with additional lines, words, or syllables of broken words. Some of these poems form acrostics if you know how to read them. 

I actually do pay attention to the number of likes each poem gets to get a sense of what people like reading, so if you see something you enjoy, register that with a like. 

Thanks again for reading.

Image credit.