One Single Impression: Hesitation

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Haiku & Tanka Set

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One Single Impression: Running

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Haiku & Tanka Set

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One Single Impression: Skin

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One Single Impression: Stardust

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One Single Impression: Reflection

Quietly the sun
sets in its own reflection —
a perch grabs a bug

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Last week I asked what the kireji (or "cutting word") means because I was having problems understanding the concept. I received wonderful replies. I post them here:

from Roswila:

Good question! I'm sure you've googled; you'll get a lot of information if haven't and then do. But here's what I've learned about it so far:

The kireji is a definite break in the haiku. Not just a pause like a comma would make in one complete sentence, but a full break or change so that the haiku is not one complete sentence in three lines. E.g., I believe in yours it would come after "woods." (BTW, you could leave out that dash, if you wanted, as it's clear there's a cut or break without it.)

Why is this kireji also often called "the cutting word"? Because (if I am recalling correctly) in Japanese there would be an actual word that creates this cut, this stop. In Japanese this cutting word/kireji has no meaning except as a sort of "stop sign" within a haiku (and there are various sorts of kireji). Whereas in English we don't need a word to indicate a stop, because our grammar itself indicates when a sentence or sentence fragment is done, over, stopped. Some haiku writers have used/do use dashes and colons to indicate the cut/kireji. But usually English grammar makes it just as clear without any extra punctuation.

Hope that was even a little helpful. Kireji is an extensive study, judging by the little bit of it I've dipped my toes into.

from the teach:

Yes you do understand the "cutting word," Andree! "field of trout lilies!" It's an exclamation at the end of a haiku - "I walk in the woods/earth black with seeping water/ --trout lilies!
A surprise, in your haiku you've come upon the trout lilies and it surprised you and us the readers...:D

and from Crafty Green Poet:

My understanding is that the cutting word can't be directly translated, but instead in English is replaced by a dash at the end of the first or second line(like at the end of your first line) to separate the two parts of the haiku. - generally the image in the first part of the haiku makes a comparison or contrast with the image in the second part of the haiku. That's my understanding anyway!

Thank you for the answers, ladies. I think I get it now!

Technorati Tags: kireji, cutting word, haiku
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One Single Impression: Bleeding

I walk in the woods —

earth black with seeping water

field of trout lilies

Can anybody explain to me, in detail and examples, the kireji (or "cutting word")? 

I still don't understand that. 

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One Single Impression: Warmth

Saplings at woods edge —

gray bark ends in budding leaves
unfolding in warmth.

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As I wrote last week, I have reviewed Ackworth Born's book The Art of Haiku.
If you would like a resource for writing haiku, please take the time to read the review.

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One Single Impression: Deserted

Coyote appears

peeper song deserts the bog
blackbirds screak alarm

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The bog is greening up at the outer edges. Male red-winged blackbirds stand guard on the bare, drowned trees. The females, the color of the dry cattails, will stay mostly hidden from view. The birds are beginning nesting activity. Coyote, fox, mink, fisher, crows and hawks will try to grab the baby blackbirds. Deer will give birth in the meadow beside the bog because the grasses grow so tall that the fawns are not visible even when they stand up. This is the first photo of the bog taken with my Canon Rebel XSi. Yes! It came on Friday! I'll be using the Canon and the Kodak while I learn how to use the new camera.

I want to thank you all for your patience with me as I have not been visiting your poetry. I have had some unfortunate and sad events in my life in the past two weeks and have not had the heart to do anything except photography and posting. Somehow those activities comfort and soothe me; perhaps because of their familiarity. And Sandy? Thank you for sustaining me on dark nights. It made all the difference to me and I'll never forget your kindnesses.

I have been reading Ackworth Born's book The Art of Haiku and I feel that the first two articles have helped me understand and enjoy haiku more than any other information I have read. I will be finishing this book and reviewing it on One Single Impression as soon as possible. In the meantime, I suggest that you click this link and purchase the book. It is a valuable resource. I hope you enjoyed my poem.

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One Single Impression: Color

Geese glide on snow melt

Otter tumble through wet slate
Beaver bog in spring

The photo of my beloved beaver bog was taken Saturday morning, 19 April 2008. For Sandy: see the snow in the woods? Still here, everywhere. The otter are back and even though they were swimming slowly it was still too quick for me to capture on camera. Besides the goose and gander here, there is a red-winged blackbird on the drowned tree. Please click on the photo in order to see the beauty here. There is no better spot on earth to inspire haiku as here. I think that this is my best haiku at this time. Gentle constructive critiques will be appreciated. I am understanding a little about the form of haiku now and I got a book this week.

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The Bluebird

BEFORE you thought of spring, Except as a surmise, You see, God bless his suddenness, A fellow in the skies Of independent hues, A little weather-worn, Inspiriting habiliments Of indigo and brown. With specimens of song, As if for you to choose, Discretion in the interval, With gay delays he goes To some superior tree Without a single leaf, And shouts for joy to nobody But his seraphic self! Emily Dickinson

Eastern Blue Bird (Sialia sialis) first seen by Mr. T on 17 April 2008
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Technorati Tags: Eastern Blue Bird, Sialia sialis, The Bluebird, Emily Dickinson
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One Single Impression: Stranded

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Earth and water fuse

As frost leaves the ground —

Cars sunk in mud are stranded

Mud season has started. This is a view of a portion of my driveway late this morning. If you visited earlier, I had a different photo (same poem). This is more appropriate.

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One Single Impression: Spring

Sweet delicate sap

Waiting under clouds of ice
Sugar on snow nears

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Sugar on snow is an old New England tradition during sugaring season.

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One Single Impression: The Water Cycle

Heart's ice bends me low

Spring melts
My luminous tears
Dried by life's sun

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One Single Impression: Kindness

Laughing eyes run up to me.
I smile and return the glance.
I doubt I'm seen
As you turn back to snowy pasture.
You run back and laugh with me.

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One Single Impression: Change

Black fractal branches
Whisper in the numbing wind
Breaking brittle limbs

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