She Wind ~ #012 April 2014 – Haiga/Haibun for #FWF Free Write Friday: Personification Prompt (and) NaPoWriMo
through a village
on weight lifter wings
whistle bone clean,
every tree flung
sweeping litter, dust
clutter, debris
scattered and tattered
clinging and rung
her broken leaf dress
swept out to sea
She Wind
Unhuman Things
personification is a great poetic as well as prose device.
i find it interesting that haiku is one of the few poetic forms where personification does not work well—and is considered inappropriate. most seasoned haiku writers avoid personification explicitly.
i’m not sure why personification has become such an anti-characteristic of haiku. a lot of the concepts around haiku deal with clear and concise observations of the world—both human and natural—without layers of complex confusion.
the term is senryu when writing that would otherwise be called haiku is about (and often poking fun at) human beings.
the barred use of personification in haiku may have to do with haiku being such a short form. personification spells out complexity when haiku is after simplicity—and an engagement with the reader to make their own discoveries.
season (traditionally). fragment and phrase. small to large or large to small, juxtaposition, awakening surprise, unusual associations, riddles, puns, humor, sense shifting, a few of the hundreds(?) of components that may go into haiku. comparison and contrast is such a strong component of haiku that cross-mixing as with personification may simply blur the strength of haiku. with so much going on in haiku, personification may just confuse things.
as an aside the words “like” and “as” in a comparative way are also considered inappropriate by many haiku writers. maybe for reasons along these same lines—clarity and of course each thing is not like any other thing. . . . so that how things are alike is left up to the reader to discover within their own mind. pulling the reader into being part of the haiku.
rhyming is also looked upon unfavorably in haiku.
alliteration and consonance are acceptable and preferred over rhyme.
what works well in some poetic forms does not work well in others.
i sometimes wonder if haiku (haiku and related forms) is placed in the category of poetry simply because—well, where else would it go? would it become it’s own category?
first spring wind
across the night sea
every leaf
…≤≥…
Digital Drawing and Painting
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This is my (slightly more than slightly edited) response to the #FWF Free Write Friday April 25, 2014 Personification prompt, found on Kellie Elmore’s Blog.
My response is in the form of haiga and haibun. Two of the many Haiku and Related Forms in the field of poetry.
Haibun is prose or poetry (other than haiku) plus one or more haiku.
Haiga is image which includes haiku as a part of the image—image and haiku as one work.
April is National Poetry Writing Month (NaPoWriMo) 2014. I hope to contribute at least one poetic writing each day—although I will post these on my blog only as I post (which currently is about 2-4 times a week). My response for:
NaPoWriMo 2014
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April 24
new seed packets
I plan a spring garden
in the grocery store
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April 25
silent cat walks
in the deep night street rain
hazy moon
**
∆≤≥∆
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