Haiku

submissions,
soul sans fire
elixir called FM

Haiku is a Japanese form of poetry with syllable sequence 5-7-5( the shortest form!) . Since it is difficult to form a haiku in English, the rule is to have a poem of 3 lines with not more than 17 syllables in it. Ideally it corresponds to phonetic units, but we take it as 17 syllables. The idea is to write Zen-inspired poetry having three lines, but it should be as subtle as possible. I have tried to do the same. The three lines relate to the time of submission in our college, when chaos and boredom rule the land. The loss of energy is often made up by listening to music(mostly FM stations). Most of the time its this elixir that keeps us on our toes.

A poem like..
.
innovation,
fruit,
Steve Jobs

qualifies as haiku, but it is the more modern form of the poetry. The fact that the smallest literary form - haiku - has the most rules never ceases to amaze and astound. The only real comfort one can find in this situation is the concept that this affords a wider range of rules from which a writer can pick and choose. You cannot follow all of the rules and several of them are so contradictory that there is no way to honor them both at once. You must always choose. In order to make a choice, you have to understand the reasons and methods.So just stick to your style and have fun!


To see the Summer Sky
Is Poetry, though never in a Book it lie -
True Poems flee.
~Emily Dickinson