(no subject)

I just don't get it when people say to me that they can't write haiku... It's a fairly straightforward poetry form, 17 syllables in three lines (5-7-5), usually concerning nature with the idea being to capture the essence of a moment in time.

Now I write LOTS of haiku (obviously). Some of it is good and some isn't so good. I've been writing for maybe four years, and I have a couple that I really LOVE.

But I also occasionally write one just because I need a good laugh, and somehow the haiku is just what does it. Today was a really foggy morning--the visibility was extremely poor. I was joking with the shop manager Tony about it, and then wrote the following haiku for him:

I can't see five feet--
This damn fog is too heavy.
Where the hell am I?

When I read it to him, he said "that's not poetry--I could have written THAT!" And I told him that that's the point. ANYONE really can write it, it's all about counting syllables and having a good thesaurus, and wanting to capture a moment. And it IS poetry.

The other weather-related haiku for the day is:

Mist-shrouded landscape,
Familiar sights seem strange...
Is this my exit?

I apparently needed a laugh this morning. :-)