The 24/7 news cycle of COVID-19 can be exhausting so we decided to take a break for a little fun this afternoon. It’s International Haiku Poetry Day which gives us a chance to flex some different creative muscles. If you’re not familiar with haiku, it’s a type of poetry that include three lines. The first and third line each contain five syllables while the second line has seven syllables.
Here’s an example from Amanda of how it’s done:
Haikus by Amanda Schrauben
Haikus can be fun.
Count the cadence one by one.
Five seven five done.
According to the Academy of American Poets, haiku traces is roots to 13th-Century Japan, and the following is an example of a classic haiku written by Matsuo Basho in the 14th Century:
An old pond!
A frog jumps in—
the sound of water.
Traditionally, haiku focuses on themes of nature or a brief moment in time. However, modern poetry may be written about a variety of subjects. Our attempts at haiku are below.
If you’d like to give this type of poetry a try yourself, we’d love to hear what you come up with. Leave your best family-friendly haiku in the comments below or on our Facebook page. We’ll select one — at random — to win $10 in Lowell Bucks at 12pm ET on Sunday, April 19.
Learning Colors by Amanda Schrauben
Red, orange, yellow.
Green, blue, indigo, violet.
Colors of the ‘bow.
Solitude by Maryalene LaPonsie
Silence each morning
Frogs, birds, owl – world a-slumber
Dawn brings life anew
Nature’s Canvas by Amanda Schrauben
Clouds float by up high.
Fluffy pictures to decode.
Look! What do you see?
Quarantine by Maryalene LaPonsie
24/7
We are always together
Serenity now
Planets by Amanda Schrauben
Planets in the sky.
Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars.
Oops the rest won’t fit.
Bravo. Well done.