I have written short poems before and they often play a part in my installations. This week though, I have been reading about Haiku to work out if I need that kind of structure for the words that seem to come out at random, to see if Haiku and me are are a good match!
In Jane Reichold’s fabulous book - Writing and Enjoying Haiku, A Hands-on Guide, she writes . . .
“Poetry is what happens between the words. Words are like signposters or waymarker that allow the reader to follow the steps the author’s mind has taken to come to a poetic idea. Vision is seeing, and in seeing we recognise the thing which is portrayed in a new way…in poetry we do use pictures, but we demand that the reader supply them…….Haiku show the reader the things along the path the author’s mind has travelled.”
“Haiku are written from experience. You are not the author of haiku, they are gifts given to you …. they come through you but are not yours.”
It seems then that creating Haiku has a lot in common with the process of making visual art. I will have a go and see where it takes me!
