HI-KU & tanka

HI-KU is any English language variation on the Japanese haiku 

This contains examples of my hi-ku with a few pointers about this image form & the extension into the tanka.

 The poetry is my copyright but maybe used for educational purposes provided advice thereof is sent to strandbg@aol.com

   HAIKU is a centuries old Japanese traditional phonetical & cultural poetic form whereas HIKU is a relatively recently established English language version thereof 'birthed' from last half of the 20th century. Hiku is an imagist tristich like its elder cousin,without a title,and with a similar economy of words ,inherently enigmatic & with a caesura or an ellipsis and surprise ending. A similar sense of pause the aesthetic insight flowing from perception gained from 'one breath length ' composition that flowed from the Japanesese 17 onji sound inherent in the haiku. Without any syllabic( 5-7-5 ) line restrictions, the hiku is the 'free verse' version of the haiku,similar but different ,a present tense poetic in another language - hiku is the written or recited equivalent to arts 'gestural spontaneous happening' . * ONE BREATH LENGTH to correspond to the aforementioned Japanesese 17 onji sounds. The essence without "telling all" (thereby to ' show ' conforming to the key of all true imagist poetry),&avoids 'as'&'to' & the use of past tense verbs (& is often without verbs,adverbs,adjectives )A verse freed from strict syllabic constraint within its triplicity of format& is inherently enigmatic & often with a caesura and surprise ending( VERSUM )to give a 'turning' to the line.The hiku maybe a horizontal single* line,(often broken line at the caesura),a vertical line(usually a painting(haiga) ,a couplet** or a tristich*** *strand by strand decadence unravels moral fibre **a dew trail across the lawn... ' neath the shed winter quarters *** a blue plume rising from camp ashes- yesterday's visions still haunt

WHY hi-ku

hi-ku (is a label I use to differentiate English language 'haiku' from the translations of the original Japanese verseform)

POETRY OF THE NOUN Many older Japanese haiku poets wrote haiku without verbs,adverbs,adjectives ,hence my title today.Of course they wrote in Japanese so such a theory do not always easily cross/transfer linguistic barriers. 

my hi-ku in that style 

evening perfume 

a flower blossom primrose 

memory of you

Keys to  Hi-Ku in English

Hi-Ku Image

Image” that ..unique instant of time.. the presentation of which gives a sense of sudden liberation; a sense of freedom from time ... and space .. that sense ... experienced in the presence of works of art..unrepeatable.. tangible to the moment.

but

 SHOW DON'T TELL 

to show rather than tell is the key to true imagist poetry ,sadly much English language hi-ku have words to avoid ,like  'as'&'to' and also use past tense verbs in their  hi-ku  ,thus the verse is  ' imagery ' rather than imagist ,by emphasising   'telling' rather.. than letting their 'words' show( as my example does above )a subtle difference yet so often a major flaw in penning hi-ku( and many other poetry forms) in English

so

HI-KU MOMENT

the concept of a "haiku moment" based in personal experience, and provides the motive for writing a haiku is an aesthetic moment' of a timeless feeling of enlightened harmony as the poet's nature and the environment are  unified'^{[  quote by Ken Yusada]}

• impressionistic brevity
• short succinct syntax; no superfluous words
• emphasis on imagery over exposition
• avoidance of metaphor and similes
• It is better to present one Image in a lifetime than to produce voluminous works.EZRA POUND

whereas

JAPANESE HAIKU

It has been said the genius of haiku is using an economy of words to paint a multi-tiered painting, without "telling all". Or as Matsuo Bashō the master of the haiku puts it The haiku that reveals seventy to eighty percent of its subject is good. Those that reveal fifty to sixty percent, we never tire of. 

anyway...A FEW OF EXAMPLES OF MY HIKU

 oe'r the horizon 

 yesterday's imperfections -

 look,tomorrow waits

 light through darkness

 spills a verdant slyvan idyll- 

 night concedes  day 

the email opens- through a veil of tears a rainbow appears

see also my one line hiku ,broken monoku @ http://monoku-ichthys.blogspot.com

and..

TANKA

the tanka solves the difficult problem of SHOW don't tell ...

for the first 3  lines (the hi-ku) is the 'show'

& the last 2 comments thereon (the tell)

here are my tanka to illustrate

COMPENDIUM OF TANKA

on the wind a bell tolls memories surface words unerased- the image fades with a tremor of light- daybreak tinges the nigrescent sky grey- the horizon appears distinct in my mind's eye without- the waning sun warms my face shalom cloaks the wells within hanging from the trees winter fog welcomes the dawn and obscures the light-- cobwebs shimmer necklaced to the hedge huddled together from the heeting rain the unbrellas moc the hearse- then in twos slowly separate the diary fell pages scattered the floor memories lie just out of reach spoor tracks imprint the virgin snow- footsteps of yesteryear echo in my mind hunger haunts each daytime hour coldness kills at night thus nature's foodchain perpetuates chill breath of dawn lights upon my window-pane nighttimes promises freeze into crystal fog at dawn necklaced cobwebs allure entranced passers-by above the still strand shrieks of seagulls die on the inshore breeze- our twin footsteps disappear as sunset dissolves the heatwave of an August dog-day a flash distant thunder- rain drops november the fifth- layered rolls of liquid fog envelope the bonfire- the party becomes a damp squib

WHY NOT ALSO CHECK OUT MY BLOGS ON 

OPEN FORM https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/2699670104199896430/3849128588764507235

 FOOTLE FORM

http://footle-ichthys.blogspot.com