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Hi everyone! Welcome to another Haibun Monday. For the newcomers, a haibun is a piece of prose followed by a haiku or micropoetry, though there is an emphasis on haiku as the form to use in the verse after the prose. You can read the rest here. I am also reposting the article earlier written by Kanzensakura here.

I hope these concepts will help you or give you a different perspective when writing haibun.

aware — the quality of certain objects to evoke longing, sadness, or immediate sympathy. The Japanese believed some objects, especially in nature, always possess aware. Writers should try to find the aware inherent in a scene they are observing for their haibun.

fueki — the sense of some eternal truth that poets strive to convey in their works. In English, this may be understood as a theme. The theme should look to separate what is simply observed from what is significant to a general audience, what message can be derived from the observation, and capture the latter element.

fuga— true art. The Japanese strive to elevate the content of their writings to an art form and incorporate the artistic elements introduced.

fugetsu — natural scenery, which the Japanese considered essential to any form of art. They strive to find the element of nature or the natural scenery around them to weave into their haibun accounts as the anchor for their message. If the scene being considered for the haibun does not contain natural scenery, writers often introduce fugetsu through metaphoric comparisons.

kaketoba — the use of words which have double meanings. In Japanese this is very easy because most nouns also have another meaning as a verb. Examples in English include leaves: to go away/foliage; blossom: to grow up/flower; fall: take a tumble/autumn. These pivot words can act as the kireji in the haiku or the haibun.

Here are the quotes to choose from to inspire your haibun:

“Yours is the light by which my spirit’s born: – you are my sun, my moon, and all my stars.”
― E.E. Cummings

“Someone I loved once gave me a box full of darkness. It took me years to understand that this too, was a gift.”
― Mary Oliver

“At every moment of our lives, we all have one foot in a fairy tale and the other in the abyss.”
― Paulo Coelho

“Find what you love and let it kill you.  Let it drain you of your all. Let it cling onto your back and weigh you down into eventual nothingness. Let it kill you and let it devour your remains.”  ― Charles Bukowski

So today, I would like you all to write a haibun based on any of the quotes above. Please use the compact haibun form for this: one or two tight paragraphs with one haiku.   Please note that the haiku portion must deal with nature.

If you are new or your first time, here’s how to join:

  • Write a compact haibun and post it to your site/blog.
  • Enter a link to your poem and your name by clicking Mr Linky below.
  • You will find links to other poets. Read and comment on other poet’s work. This is what makes this such a creative community.
  • Keep in mind that others may have posted after you, so do check back on the linky page for details.   The prompt is open for 7 days.
  • Promote your work on social media. You may use the tag #dversepoets and we will share you as well.
  • Have fun and keep warm!

See you on the poetry trail!  Grace