more thoughts on haiku, but first a word for doctor pistachio...love your blog, but ohio is in the midwest...i'll explain later. i have to dig in my e-mail for the great pictures of cleveland you sent. it's not that the map below proves that ohio's the midwest. the pictures of cleveland prove it. and toledo is the same, only more so.

been thinking of haiku. have two plans: first one tentatively entitled counting boxcars: carbondale haiku...many of these i've already put a href, my poetry blog, but haven't sorted in any way. also haven't been thorough about venues to cover: longbranch, u-haul, kroger west, that kind of stuff. too busy living life i guess.

my other project is a little more extensive. it turns out that classic haiku has season words, it's complicated, but not too complicated. everyone seems to follow this rule. well i have some variations on the rule i'd like to explore.

the first is to make fifty state haiku but with state kigo or words which tell which state, somewhat bluntly, perhaps, but perhaps deftly too. give it a try. don't worry about the seasons, just let the word suggest the place in the same way kigo suggest the season. i've been in forty-eight of 'em, mostly walking, so it should be within my grasp...

the second is this. these kigo are obvious to most readers...cherry blossoms, for example, are spring; icicles-winter, etc. but some, like firecrackers, are pretty obviously summer in this culture but not necessarily in others...well, ambiguity is currency of the writer...why not embrace ambiguity?? why must we always be so clear...?

i have this related problem with coder haiku...also on my site. what seasons can you experience, in view source html caves? perhaps one has to make up one's own coder kigo...don't know where this is going. i have, however, come up with some rules to live by, for short poetry in general...

1) don't worry about 'haiku', 'senryu' etc., don't even call it that. just using these words can make you feel like a beginner. it's short poetry; just write it. let others worry about the rules & how you've applied them.
2) read the masters regularly; even if you're in a completely different universe. choose your own masters. the cream will rise to the top.
3) short poetry comes from everywhere...and should be put back where you got it.
4) scrape the bottom of the barrel that holds your soul- use every last drop.
5) you break it, you buy it. don't know what that means exactly, but it has to do with taking responsibility for the stuff you pick up. i've adopted it as a rule to live by, at least for the moment.

end haliburton's war...
more coming, chou