There is something concise, yet deep about them. Something lucid, yet hypnotic. Something simple, yet poetic. Something confusing, yet enlightening.
For those who are not familiar with Haiku, here is what Wikipedia has to say.
----------------------------------------------------------------
Haiku (俳句, Haiku?) listen (help·info) is a kind of Japanese poetry. It was given this name in the late 19th century by a man named Masaoka Shiki by a combination of the older hokku (発句, hokku?) and the haikai (or verses) in haikai no renga. Haiku, when known as hokku were the opening verses of a linked verse form, haikai no renga. In Japanese, hokku and haiku are traditionally printed in one vertical line (though in handwritten form they may be in any reasonable number of lines). In English, haiku are written in three lines to equate to the three parts of a haiku in Japanese that traditionally consist of five, seven, and then five on (the Japanese count sounds, not syllables; for example, the word "haiku" itself counts as three sounds in Japanese (ha-i-ku), but two syllables in English (hai-ku), and writing seventeen syllables in English produces a poem that is actually quite a bit longer, with more content, than a haiku in Japanese). The kireji (cutting word or pause) usually comes at the end of either the first or second line. A haiku traditionally contains a kigo (season word) representative of the season in which the poem is set, or a reference to the natural world.
----------------------------------------------------------------
Traditional Rules for writing Haiku:
3-short lines
1-season word
1-cutting word
no rhyme or metaphor
(17 syllables, 5-7-5)
----------------------------------------------------------------
Some of the greatest Haiku masters were; Basho, Buson, Issa, Shiki, and Santoka.
Following are examples of some of the best Haiku ever written:
old pond
a frog jumps
the sound of water
- Matsuo Basho
The sea at springtime.
All day it rises and falls,
yes, rises and falls.
- Buson
Going deeper
And deeper still
Green Mountain
- Santoka
the first cold shower
even the monkey seems to want
a little coat of straw
- Matsuo Basho
----------------------------------------------------------------
After getting inspired by these giants, I also decided to write Haiku.
However, I'm going to be blasphemous here (sorry Master Basho), and devise my own form of Haiku.
And I'll call them RawKu. (Yes. I know, i'm being egoistic :) )
A RawKu will comprise of the following rules.:
- 3-short lines
- 1-unification word at the end (which also succinctly sums up the message)
- no rhyme
- (13 syllables, 5-7-1)
----------------------------------------------------------------
The following RawKu attempt to describe some of my favorite movies, books, and people. Let's see if you can identify them.
Note: There are a couple of Hindi movies in the list.
---------------------------------------------------
Movies:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
caring teacher helps;
disabled child to be a,
star
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
monster in city,
shot by handy camera;
death
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
handful of soldiers,
against mighty empire;
roar
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
man, wife, shining kid;
terror in the wintry cold;
Blood.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
bald psycho killer,
severs hero's wife's head off.
Sins.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
lying musician,
teaches school kids, a way to;
rock
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
a trio's project,
lost in the woods, in search of;
witch
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
holocaust victims;
owe their lives, to their masters
list
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
non linear tales;
mashed together to become
pulp
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
a tank of canines;
kill each other, after failed
heist
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
ancient culture ends;
with irony to begin,
new
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
man with amnesia,
tattoos all wrong messages;
back
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
thrid dimension ode;
to serpent nymph, and hero
wolf
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
union soldiers bet;
and lose to peasants at own,
game
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
doctor from alba;
serves leader, who is tyrant
king.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
hide and seek story;
of boston gang leaders, who
left.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Books:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
parable of bird;
that refuses to remain,
gull
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
in pursuit of dreams.
young lad transforms life into;
gold.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
father of gang lords.
sees son with broken nose, turn;
don.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
priest kills himself to,
evict howdy; who possessed
girl
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
lad follows buddha;
before attaining final
truth.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
ageless people,
in utopian paradise;
peace.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
quest for kings treasure;
leads durban hunter,
to lost mines
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Climbing the mountain;
Cost many lives in the thin
Air
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
bridges see couple's
failure in a forbidden;
love
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
People:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
never born or died;
Master, entered our lives.
O
---------------------------------------------------
