What do you read to write haiku? Where do you get your inspiration?

[AlanSummers]

Thank you!

I didn't see a name, and wonder if you have any published haiku to show us? I thought kayaking had stopped now, whether due to a seasonal aspect or covid restrictions? But what an incredible activity to observe things we might not normally witness tramping through the woodland!

"reminiscing about past experiences"
Yes, a potent reservoir of potential haiku!


"A rêverie observation."
"rêverie observation" is a new aspect of Slip-Realism but one where versions of memory from our earlier life or lives are captured.
rêverie observation©Alan Summers 2018-2020
https://area17.blogspot.com/2018/01/slip-realism-haiku-about-lives-and.html

I think more and more people who can move, or future generations, will consider finding homes nearer to nature, and less densely populated areas.

warm regards,
Alan

Hello,

If I feel stuck and unable to write I generally do a combination of things as one method on its own doesn’t seem to work.

A productive haiku day for me involves getting outdoors for a walk or kayak, reading haiku and reminiscing about past experiences (not necessarily in that order). Reminiscing in particular has helped this year because the virus has limited opportunities to travel and socialise.

[Bluemountain]

Thank you!

I didn't see a name, and wonder if you have any published haiku to show us? I thought kayaking had stopped now, whether due to a seasonal aspect or covid restrictions? But what an incredible activity to observe things we might not normally witness tramping through the woodland!

"reminiscing about past experiences"
Yes, a potent reservoir of potential haiku!


"A rêverie observation."
"rêverie observation" is a new aspect of Slip-Realism but one where versions of memory from our earlier life or lives are captured.
rêverie observation©Alan Summers 2018-2020
https://area17.blogspot.com/2018/01/slip-realism-haiku-about-lives-and.html

I think more and more people who can move, or future generations, will consider finding homes nearer to nature, and less densely populated areas.

warm regards,
Alan

Hello,

If I feel stuck and unable to write I generally do a combination of things as one method on its own doesn’t seem to work.

A productive haiku day for me involves getting outdoors for a walk or kayak, reading haiku and reminiscing about past experiences (not necessarily in that order). Reminiscing in particular has helped this year because the virus has limited opportunities to travel and socialise.

Alan

I’m very new to the world of haiku and have only had two haiku published.  I do, however, have haiku appearing in three upcoming publications (Frog Pond, Akitsu Quarterly and Windfall: Australian Haiku) so hopefully I’ll have more to share in the future.

One of my published haiku was the product of reminiscing:

old wedding ring

bottom drawer

behind the socks

(Echidna Tracks: Issue 5)

I do wonder how much sentimentality has the potential to influence haiku produced as a result of reminiscing and if this can enhance or detract from the end product. To me, sometimes haiku is like a photograph written down, so haiku produced from reminiscing is a type of “back dated literary photograph” (for want of a better term), and lets me recapture moments of my life that I can enjoy for many years to come in haiku form.

I kayak in Canberra, Australia all year round.  I’ve even been out in sub zero temperatures pre-dawn to observe the sunrise from the centre of the lake.  Now that the weather is getting warmer the fish and birds are more active and I’m hoping to meet a platypus or two while out on a weekend during daylight hours.

My favourite time of day is pre-dawn.  Many amazing things occur along nature trails in the darkness an hour before the sun comes up.  I’d suggest if someone is in a writing slump, that they go for a walk during a time of day they are unfamiliar with. I understand that is easier said than done in some parts of the world and appreciate that I am very fortunate to live somewhere safe with easy access to the natural world.


Paul

[AlanSummers]

Hi Paul,

Found it and clicked like!

Ah Canberra, I knew a girl who had worked there...

re sentimentality just as in everything else is a balance, a just enough measure, I guess.

"haiku is like a photograph written down, so haiku produced from reminiscing is a type of “back dated literary photograph” (for want of a better term), and lets me recapture moments of my life that I can enjoy for many years to come in haiku form."

I like haiku that go beyond the photograph and reach around the sides and rear of that image it's front facing. 


"My favourite time of day is pre-dawn."

I used to do horse agistment in Queensland, so up at 4am, feed the horses at 430am and then cycle the back roads in farm country, or go straight to the billabong, part of a 2000 acre landcare project!

So yes, whether outside Harrisville QLD, or Churchill, Ipswich QLD I've done both early and late walks. This late walk across the golf course at Churchill brought this: https://area17.blogspot.com/2010/08/anatomy-of-haiku.html



It'll be interesting to read more Canberra haiku!

warm regards,
Alan

Thank you!

I didn't see a name, and wonder if you have any published haiku to show us? I thought kayaking had stopped now, whether due to a seasonal aspect or covid restrictions? But what an incredible activity to observe things we might not normally witness tramping through the woodland!

"reminiscing about past experiences"
Yes, a potent reservoir of potential haiku!


"A rêverie observation."
"rêverie observation" is a new aspect of Slip-Realism but one where versions of memory from our earlier life or lives are captured.
rêverie observation©Alan Summers 2018-2020
https://area17.blogspot.com/2018/01/slip-realism-haiku-about-lives-and.html

I think more and more people who can move, or future generations, will consider finding homes nearer to nature, and less densely populated areas.

warm regards,
Alan

Hello,

If I feel stuck and unable to write I generally do a combination of things as one method on its own doesn’t seem to work.

A productive haiku day for me involves getting outdoors for a walk or kayak, reading haiku and reminiscing about past experiences (not necessarily in that order). Reminiscing in particular has helped this year because the virus has limited opportunities to travel and socialise.

Alan

I’m very new to the world of haiku and have only had two haiku published.  I do, however, have haiku appearing in three upcoming publications (Frog Pond, Akitsu Quarterly and Windfall: Australian Haiku) so hopefully I’ll have more to share in the future.

One of my published haiku was the product of reminiscing:

old wedding ring

bottom drawer

behind the socks

(Echidna Tracks: Issue 5)

I do wonder how much sentimentality has the potential to influence haiku produced as a result of reminiscing and if this can enhance or detract from the end product. To me, sometimes haiku is like a photograph written down, so haiku produced from reminiscing is a type of “back dated literary photograph” (for want of a better term), and lets me recapture moments of my life that I can enjoy for many years to come in haiku form.

I kayak in Canberra, Australia all year round.  I’ve even been out in sub zero temperatures pre-dawn to observe the sunrise from the centre of the lake.  Now that the weather is getting warmer the fish and birds are more active and I’m hoping to meet a platypus or two while out on a weekend during daylight hours.

My favourite time of day is pre-dawn.  Many amazing things occur along nature trails in the darkness an hour before the sun comes up.  I’d suggest if someone is in a writing slump, that they go for a walk during a time of day they are unfamiliar with. I understand that is easier said than done in some parts of the world and appreciate that I am very fortunate to live somewhere safe with easy access to the natural world.


Paul

[Bluemountain]

I lived in SE QLD for 4 years.  If i still lived there my haiku would be full of fruit bats, fig trees, possums, mango trees, ibis and chinese elms.

I like the haiku you linked to. I drafted a haiku the other day that also includes a tawny frogmouth.  I thought the species was obscure enough to not be referenced in another haiku! My poem is quite different though and i'm still not sure if i can develop it into what i want from it.

Anyway .... i'm very happy to have discovered haiku and appreciate this forum and the web pages created by those who are more developed poets.

Hi Paul,

Found it and clicked like!

Ah Canberra, I knew a girl who had worked there...

re sentimentality just as in everything else is a balance, a just enough measure, I guess.

"haiku is like a photograph written down, so haiku produced from reminiscing is a type of “back dated literary photograph” (for want of a better term), and lets me recapture moments of my life that I can enjoy for many years to come in haiku form."

I like haiku that go beyond the photograph and reach around the sides and rear of that image it's front facing. 


"My favourite time of day is pre-dawn."

I used to do horse agistment in Queensland, so up at 4am, feed the horses at 430am and then cycle the back roads in farm country, or go straight to the billabong, part of a 2000 acre landcare project!

So yes, whether outside Harrisville QLD, or Churchill, Ipswich QLD I've done both early and late walks. This late walk across the golf course at Churchill brought this: https://area17.blogspot.com/2010/08/anatomy-of-haiku.html


It'll be interesting to read more Canberra haiku!

warm regards,
Alan

[AlanSummers]

Hi Paul,

That's cool, which part of SE QLD?

Written on all those things except chinese elms! :-)

Did you see the Mission Beach possums? :-)

Good luck on your own frogmouth poem. Mine was from the Churchill (Ipswich QLD) golf course. I was renting a Dutch family's Queenslander right opposite, and would regularly walk across the green at twilight. Never went into the club house, or maybe once but didn't go into pubs and bars very much in five years, maybe three or four times?

Enjoy capturing parts of Oz in your haiku, it's very rewarding.

warm regards,
Alan

I lived in SE QLD for 4 years.  If i still lived there my haiku would be full of fruit bats, fig trees, possums, mango trees, ibis and chinese elms.

I like the haiku you linked to. I drafted a haiku the other day that also includes a tawny frogmouth.  I thought the species was obscure enough to not be referenced in another haiku! My poem is quite different though and i'm still not sure if i can develop it into what i want from it.

Anyway .... i'm very happy to have discovered haiku and appreciate this forum and the web pages created by those who are more developed poets.

[Lemuel]

I read nature journals, garden magazines, all sorts of nature and natural history (bugs, environments, botany, sciences), poetry and a variety of  newspapers. Real-life stuff mainly.

I get some inspiration from reading, however, I take haiku-walking in my green-zones including being stranded  by the side of the road or just waiting.

Active awareness of my situation works most of the time. Being there in the moment. Yeah, that.

[AlanSummers]

Dear Lemuel,

Good points, in that we should read, listen, and watch things outside of poetry or the arts as well. I often get insights from any topic totally unrelated to poetry that I can bring in as a new method or technique, or article. I had to smile at 'real-life' because as a trained collator (previous security training), and Karen is a trained researcher (documentary film-making) we get beneath what is presented as 'real life'. 

We do have a green-zone only because it would guarantee to flood houses immediately. 
Plus, in interesting stages, where I live we have one of the longest river walks in the South West of England, at least. But due to narrow passage ways, and aggressive joggers etc... we have to plan ahead to make use of this.

What is real life? From my years both in Security, of many kinds, and hospitality, and looking after people in rented accommodation etc... it's nothing like it's presented on news media. I've helped homeless citizens in both Bristol (England) and in Chippenham (former headquarters of King Alfred the Great, and vikings too!) and it's a different story.

Many artists attempt to get under the gloss of the soundbite real life presented by various outlets and biased political party supporters. It can be difficult sometimes dangerous, to bring in any reality to our poetry. We know that Japanese haiku poets were tortured as Japanese corporate interests were forcing the Emperor of Japan to enter the WWII arena. Their now proved reality was pointless at the time. Here's an article dedicated to one haiku poet who died from torture: https://area17.blogspot.com/2013/07/the-g-force-of-blue-touching-base-with.html

What reality dare we tread? That's up to every single poet, whether haiku, tanka, haibun, shahai etc...

It's a great challenge!

warmest regards,
Alan

I read nature journals, garden magazines, all sorts of nature and natural history (bugs, environments, botany, sciences), poetry and a variety of  newspapers. Real-life stuff mainly.

I get some inspiration from reading, however, I take haiku-walking in my green-zones including being stranded  by the side of the road or just waiting.

Active awareness of my situation works most of the time. Being there in the moment. Yeah, that.

[Lemuel]

Hello Alan,

Thanks for your response to my post on the subject of this thread.

Were I to visit real-life Wiltshire and there find a web in the environment, then, I would imagine the spider simply based on my discovery of the organized strands.  My conclusion may be in error for Wiltshire as for other habitats.

I relate 'real-life' to writing haiku. I am in active contact in my physical surroundings, immersed in the moment to take in something of the world. Real-life feels like the cold, it reflects the grain of some spiders' web as such.

Real-life is a thrill--it makes an impression on me. The thrill could be a fern seen 'just so' or a half lit dust mote. Some of this is new to me and I hope it never becomes mundane.

I am a novice. I want to learn. You input has been so helpful.

Reality, per se, is something distinctly beyond my intentions or scope of writing haiku. I think I would be taking on entirely too much for my poor services to writing poems.

Cordially,

Lemuel

It can be difficult sometimes dangerous, to bring in any reality to our poetry.

[AlanSummers]

Hi Lemuel,

We have plenty of cobwebs in our house, and one or two spiderwebs. Both Karen and myself are fine with indoor spiders and lots outside, but as it gets cold they need to come back inside.

When I lived in Australia it was vital to have the windows covered in cobwebs or spiderwebs as the sandflies were so small they'd get through the insect screens otherwise. And of course you have to have a resident Huntsman spider as big as your fist to keep down the bigger things that get in somehow.

Hope you are safe and not just from covid. 

We always had weird times getting weirder that we labelled normal, so I really don't now want a new normal that will be even creepier. Fingers and spiderwebs crossed.

Alan

Hello Alan,

Thanks for your response to my post on the subject of this thread.

Were I to visit real-life Wiltshire and there find a web in the environment, then, I would imagine the spider simply based on my discovery of the organized strands.  My conclusion may be in error for Wiltshire as for other habitats.

I relate 'real-life' to writing haiku. I am in active contact in my physical surroundings, immersed in the moment to take in something of the world. Real-life feels like the cold, it reflects the grain of some spiders' web as such.

Real-life is a thrill--it makes an impression on me. The thrill could be a fern seen 'just so' or a half lit dust mote. Some of this is new to me and I hope it never becomes mundane.

I am a novice. I want to learn. You input has been so helpful.

Reality, per se, is something distinctly beyond my intentions or scope of writing haiku. I think I would be taking on entirely too much for my poor services to writing poems.

Cordially,

Lemuel

It can be difficult sometimes dangerous, to bring in any reality to our poetry.