"There are two ways: one is entirely natural, in which the poem is born from within itself; the other ways is to make it from the mastery of the technique." -- Basho
My understanding of haiku has frozen itself in the superficial elementary school equation of
5/7/5 + nature = haiku
It is time to thaw a little bit.
I have been caught somewhere on the semi-colon between the two "ways" that Basho describes -- trying to write concisely what I see yet constrained by immature technique. So, moving forward:
- no more titles
- focus on objective imagery
- create a juxtaposition flanking a caesura ("like the gap in a spark plug")
- balance karumi (lightness) with ugachi (insightful observation)
- juggle humor with wabi sabi, which is...
"a bittersweet mix of
loneliness and serenity, a sense of dejection buoyed by
freedom from material hindrance "
- explore the "invisible constraints" more than counting syllables
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