Apocalypse Haiku by Phillip Reyth

[janis]

I enjoy the occasional haiku or in this case Scifaiku. I think these would be better if the author was writing these as modern haiku instead of forcing the concepts in to the traditional 17 syllables (3 lines of 5, 7, and 5 syllables).

[lordravenn]

Thanks Janis. I have a tanka in SCIFAIKUEST Magazine this month on the same subject. It is in 5 7 5 7 7 form. You can get a copy from my link to SamsDot Publishing. I will also be coming out with one in issue #11 of Nth Degree Magazine. Adios Amiga!

[Robert_Moriyama]

I enjoy the occasional haiku or in this case Scifaiku.  I think these would be better if the author was writing these as modern haiku instead of forcing the concepts in to the traditional 17 syllables (3 lines of 5, 7, and 5 syllables).

<br><br>... so what IS a 'modern haiku'?<br><br>Janis seems to be making themed comments this month ... she expressed a dislike for most modern attempts at traditional European poetic forms in her comments on Nate K.'s 'Unclean Snow', too. As I said in that thread, when someone succeeds within a rigid structure, in some ways it makes the work that much more admirable.<br><br>These particular examples of the haiku form didn't really make much of an impression on me (although the stuff falling from the sky presumably would). Maybe I'm spoiled from reading longer stuff, and need more flesh on the skeleton of a image than will fit in a haiku ...<br><br>Robert M.

[janis]

... so what IS a 'modern haiku'?

<br>As I understand it in modern haiku the spirit and focus of a haiku is more important than its syllable count. As described more aptly by the modern haiku poet Cor van den Heuvel in The New York Times Book Review: <br><br>A haiku is not just a pretty picture in three lines of 5-7-5 syllables each. In fact, most haiku in English are not writtten in 5-7-5 syllables at all–many are not even written in three lines. What distinguishes a haiku is concision, perception and awareness–not a set number of syllables… It is now known that about 12–not 17 syllables in English are equivalent in length to the 17 onji (sound-symbols) of the Japanese haiku. A number of poets are writing them shorter than that. The results almost literally fit Alan Watt's description of haiku as "wordless" poems. Such poems may seem flat and empty to the uninitiated. But despite their simplicity, haiku can be very demanding of both writer and reader, being at the same time one of the most accessible and inaccessible kinds of poetry. R. H. Blyth, the great translator of Japanese haiku, wrote that a haiku is "an open door which looks shut." To see what is suggested by a haiku, the reader must share in the creative process, being willing to associate and pick up on the echoes implicit in the words. A wrong focus, or lack of awareness, and he will see only a closed door. <br>Source: http://www.worldhaikureview.org/2-3/wor ... >[quote]As I said in that thread, when someone succeeds within a rigid structure, in some ways it makes the work that much more admirable.[/quote]<br>I don’t disagree but I personally do not see that type of success happening in rhymed forms today.  In the other thread, Nate was not able to provide current examples of successful rhymed poetry perhaps you can.