Monday, March 30, 2009

form or function?

i have been continuing to twitter haiku every morning, some are in classic 5-7-5 syllable form,
but in twitter you cannot  really tell.... there is no ordering of words, other than a  straight line of byts. 
when i realized this, i  began
writing more for the words themselves, than the word-form of 3 lines. 
often i found myself using the  'fusion'  form of haiku
just the17 syllables that relate a clear  'real'  moment or a tiny revelation of grace.
even in my brief communications with "friends", i write in 17 syllables, always.  
so far, it has been an excellent morning "brain gym",   as stimulating as the coffee.....

i've played around with haiku for a very long time, exchanging  them with various friends and fellow
writers over the years. nothing tops a good game of haiku;   the "conversation" becomes brief
and beautiful, right-to-the-point... often, over time, even addictive.
although twitter is a medium for fast connections and links, and comments on what the world is doing at
any given moment....each morning, my "what are you doing" is writing haiku. it's a nice combination of
form and function; i often ponder which is which as i count syllables on my fingers. what am i doing right now?
i am temporally writing haiku, in e-world......... as spiritually as i can.

i wish now that i had kept track of every one, on postcards and old papers , scribbled on the back of an envelope
while driving......endless exchanges of beautifully precise poems.  i have held onto many, and once more, as i re-read them,
i see how the process functions to reduce the babble and tranquilize the monkey mind.
writing haiku allows a practice of poetic consideration to both focus and relax your mind.
these deliberately concise images convey the beauty of all life in just a few words.  
this form of poetry, gives the both the writer and the reader the experience of  a tiny  'Aha!' moment.
its brevity and its beauty are understandable, and quickly realized. 
i believe haiku teaches each of us to reduce the external noise, and fully apprehend the beauty
of the present moment....between  form and  function, it makes no difference in this very
small bit of the dreaming-world.

-vernal-

i hear the voices,
the sandhill cranes returning
from southern winters.

vty,  J-lea

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