Question about wording

[Hosscooper]

Hopefully simple question. is it allowable to well  :-[ curse in a haiku? I have an idea that I like, but do not wish to offend any one if I post it. I would not consider it quote bad, rather something most folks would do if they were alone and upset. Since however it would be posted I would in effect be saying it out loud. Hosscooper

[AlanSummers]

Dear Brian,

I guess you might cuss or curse if you think back to the fish that got away? :-)  I presume you like flyfishing?

What kind of curse do you mean, as that could cover voodoo for instance, or using the Christian's God's name in vain, including Jesus.  Even zounds is a curse or cuss word as it's a shortened way of saying 'by God's wounds':

old English minced oath coined by William Shakespeare: "zounds", which is a contraction of "God's wounds", referring to the crucifixion wounds of Jesus Christ, formerly used as a mildly blasphemous oath.

If it's simply invective, I don't think it will work in haiku, but possibly in other poetry.  Larkin was perhaps unfairly famous for his swear word in This Be The Verse: http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poem/178055

Alan

Hopefully simple question. is it allowable to well  :-[ curse in a haiku? I have an idea that I like, but do not wish to offend any one if I post it. I would not consider it quote bad, rather something most folks would do if they were alone and upset. Since however it would be posted I would in effect be saying it out loud. Hosscooper

[John McManus]

I can only speak for myself, but if it's not gratuitous or aimed at anyone in particular then I have no problem with any kind of curse or cursing.

warmest,
John
 

[Sue]

It depends. Issa was not above using very basic words, for bodily functions particularly. Colin Stewart Jones frequently uses 'street language', Marlene Mountain has used the F word in a few that I have seen. If you were intending to use a word which is usually unacceptable for minors and polite poetry groups then it may limit possible posting, publishing and performance opportunities. However, there are some areas of western culture where it would be not only acceptable but commonplace to use the F word in particular and a whole raft of words that you won't hear at a Vicar's tea party but which are an acceptable part of youth culture language. Unless you were writing specifically for street-language culture then of course it will be shocking and offensive to some people. What do you expect? That's no reason not to use it though if you think it is a necessary part of your poem.

So are you going to show it to us?

Sue

[Hosscooper]

Well  :o ; Alan I'm not sure how you figured out that I like flyfish but yes I do, alot.  ;D

   Any how back to my subject matter. well perhaps I should just post it, and let y'all see it for yourselves in context. I really would not consider it out of bounds or over the top, as you will see I hope. Sue, I guess that was my worry initially that some one might get ofended, and well what a bad way to start. So; If all agree I can post it tomorow in the begginers section. Hosscooper

[Sue]

...and music Alan  ;)