old library – July 9, 2015

The smell of books

old library –
swirling summer reflections
dust in the sunbeams

© G.s.k. ‘15

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“Haiku rules:

Haiku has several rules, to many to speak about here, but I will give you, dear reader, the most important rules for haiku:

The syllable count: 5-7-5
This is the most important rule and this is what makes haiku a haiku.

The inspiration source:A haiku is inspired by a short moment. This short moment is as short as the sound of a pebble thrown in water. Say ‘one heart beat’ short. (You can say haiku is a ‘aha-erlebnis’).

The season word (kigo)
To place the haiku in a specific season the classical Japanese poets used ‘kigo’ or season words. These are words that refer to a season e.g. tulips (Spring); sunbathing (Summer), colored leaves (Autumn) and snow (Winter).

Interchanging
This I have to explain I think. Interchanging means that the first and third sentence of the haiku are interchangeable without losing the imagery of the haiku e.g.

a lonely flower
my companion for one night –
the indigo sky

When I ‘interchange’ the first and third sentence:

the indigo sky –
my companion for one night
a lonely flower

Through interchanging the both sentences the image of the haiku didn’t change.

Cutting word (kireji)The so-called ‘cutting word’ or ‘kireji’ was mostly a ‘-‘ as I have used in the above given haiku and it means ‘here ends the line’ or ‘a break in the line’. The ‘-‘ may be counted as a syllable.

Deeper Meaning – Every haiku (the most haiku) have a deeper meaning. This deeper meaning is mostly a Zen-Buddhistic meaning, because haiku has originated from Zen-Buddhism, but it could also be a deeper meaning based on the philosophy of the haiku poet. The deeper meaning is mostly a spiritual one.”

Carpe Diem Lecture

For:

Carpe Diem Tokubetsudesu #51 classical way of writing haiku