Following a suggestion from David at fivereflections.wordpress.com, I have tried to write some horror haiku poems! This is inspired by the release of Abomination Magazine which I discussed in my last post.
To excuse the amateurish nature of what follows, I should say that the last time I wrote a poem, I was about twelve. However, I found trying to write these within the rules of Haiku not only good fun, but quite a challenge!
If you’d like to have a go too, I would love to read them.
So here goes…
Winter moon, old house
Woman walks, trails grey fingers,
Scented with the grave.
Dusty wings snap shut
Sharp eyes squint against spring light
Praying, waits for prey
Dry leaves dance, door creaks
Last light catches at cobwebs
Echo of old sigh
Gun barrel lustre
Streetlight frozen in alley
Facing the undead
Walk quickly, light fades
Past houses shut against chill
Footsteps close behind
Staring eyes, iced skin
Mind methadone dulled, needy
Anticipates blood
Katkasia:
You are now the world’s most favorite Horror Haiku Poetess! Now you will have to keep a corner open in Abomination Magazine for many many many more Horror Haiku (俳句)
I’m impressed by your creative skill and images of horror that you have carefully slipped into your Haiku (俳句)
Thank you for the mention!
I’ve enjoyed reading each Horror Haiku and look forward to the results of another creative train ride.
( I hope I don’t have NightMares tonight! )
David in Maine USA
Glad you enjoyed them! I found it quite meditative – although counting syllables on my fingers on the train did get me a few odd looks! 🙂
Great stuff! Thank you so much! These truly made my day.
You’re very welcome! It was fun.
Hope the launch is going well! 🙂
You have a nice wee collection here. I would be interested to know which ‘rules of haiku’ you have followed. I ask because there are many, and some of them don’t easily make the trip from Japanese into English (or into any other language for that matter). These days a lot of haijin find ways of artfully breaking the rules whilst still writing what is identifiably haiku.
I think the first thing to remember when composing haiku is that seventeen syllables of English contains about 30% more information than seventeen syllables of Japanese, and that if we want to reproduce the devastating brevity of the Japanese form then it is necessary, perhaps, to cut the form down and write 4-6-4 or 3-5-3 for example. The second is that haiku ideally captures a transient emotion which is evoked by a momentary observation/description. Your third and fifth above come the closest to this. This implies spontaneity, which makes it difficult to sit down and say, for example, ‘I shall write a horror haiku’.
I wonder if you would like to visit ‘the zen space’, where haiku is showcased? http://thezenspace.wordpress.com
I enjoyed reading your post this morning.
M
__________
Marie Marshall
author/poet/editor
Scotland
http://mairibheag.com
http://kvennarad.wordpress.com
Thanks Marie! The rules of Haiku I followed are largely those given to me by Fivereflections in the comments of my post yesterday. I did also see something on Wikipedia about needing a ‘cutting’ word to finish one of the lines, so I attempted to do that.
I am really a complete novice at this, so I appreciate any comments from you!
I’ll check out the ‘zen space’ – thanks for the tip! The haiku I have read in the last few days are gorgeous. Like emotional photos of very personal moments.
Ah, the concept of the ‘kireji’, the cutting word.
I think much more important is the state of mind, by the way. It seems from your comment “like emotional photos of very personal moments” that you have an appreciation of that.
M
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I realize this is a bit of an old post, but I thought you might be interested in checking out our Horror Haiku web series nad possibly submitting one of yours to be made. Cheers!
Butting in here, Michael – I’m looking for fresh blood over at ‘the zen space’ (see above). Good writers of haiku / short poetry welcome to submit something.
M
🙂