A change sensed
Birdsong wakes me from my slumber
Spring is near
~~~~~
(Spiritual poem)
I have always loved the Japanese Haiku form of Poetry for its simplicity and clear pointing to what is. In Japanese, they are written in a 5-7-5 format (5 syllables, 7 syllables, 5 syllables) and traditionally, but not always, contain a seasonal word.
English translations, being unable to follow the syllabic format exactly, aim however to keep a short-long-short structure while at the same time (and most importantly) keeping the "Kokoro" or heart of the poem which lies beyond the words themselves (The part that makes you go Ahhhh...)
Having read mostly translations of Haiku by famous masters such as Basho, Ikkyu, and my favorite the Zen Poet-Monk, Ryokan, I occasionally attempt my own.
I wrote the above poem yesterday morning. I hope you like it.
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