The Haiku Companion

By James Moore

The Haiku Companion is an extensive collection of verses written in the traditional Japanese style of haiku three lines of five, seven and five syllables. It is a compilation of feelings, experiences and philosophical comments that speak to us about the fabric of life the struggle, bliss, sorrow, beauty, pain, whimsy, complexity and simplicity of living on this planet. Wander through the pages without hurry to connect with those verses that resonate with your own experience and let others transport you to new experiences in your heart and mind.

• Language: English
• Publisher: iUniverse
• Release date: Mar 22, 2012
• ISBN: 9781469796208

James Moore

James Moore is a professional writer who specializes in bringing to life forgotten aspects of history. His work has appeared in titles such as The Daily Express, Sunday Telegraph and The Daily Mirror and he is also the author and co-author of seven other books including Murder at the Inn: A History of Crime in Britain’s Pubs and Hotels, Pigeon-Guided Missiles: And 49 Other Ideas that Never Took Off; Ye Olde Good Inn Guide and History’s Narrowest Escapes. All have achieved widespread coverage in national and local media.

Book preview

The 

 Haiku 

 Companion

James Moore

iUniverse, Inc.

Bloomington

The Haiku Companion

Copyright © 2012 by James Moore.

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ISBN: 978-1-4697-9619-2 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4697-9620-8 (ebk)

iUniverse rev. date: 03/15/2012

Contents

Introduction

The World We See

The Lives We Live

Introduction

I first learned about haiku in a high school creative writing class in the late 1960’s. Although I experienced many different styles of writing in that class, haiku quickly became my first love. It requires a great deal of the writer — the ability to create in the reader a complete sense of an entire scene — in only three short lines and 17 syllables. But it also gives much in return. If written well, it can tell an entire short story. Few things give me as much pleasure as having someone read one of my haiku and tell me that it refreshed a long forgotten memory for them… or that it painted a beautiful scene in their minds that stayed with them the entire day… or that it moved them or connected with them in some special way.

Haiku is an ancient Japanese form of poetry and, traditionally, it was used only to illustrate scenes of nature. But over the years it has evolved to the point where it is no longer restricted to describing natural settings or events. And, personally, I think that’s a healthy evolution. I would prefer not to see such a poignant and powerful form of writing restricted to only one venue. So, I have used it in this book to write about many aspects of our journey here on this earth — nature, seasons, life and living.

Although I have taken that liberty with content, I suppose I could be described as a purist in one sense. All of my haiku in this book are written in the traditional style — five syllables in the first line, seven syllables in the second line and five syllables in the third line. Although I have occasionally adopted some of the other styles with different numbers of syllables between the various lines, I find the traditional 5-7-5 structure more challenging and, therefore, more rewarding.

One of the things that I particularly like about haiku (and something that it shares with some other literary forms of expression) is that it can either be taken very literally or it can be seen as highly symbolic. Most verses about natural settings, for example, are often unvarnished and not subject to many other interpretations.

A young calico

Stalks a baby dragonfly

Across the garden

Dark purple lilacs

Throw their bouquets sweet fragrance

Through my open door

Sometimes, however, there may be other messages

hidden in the lines.

Despite a hard snow

The two men walked through the field

Laughing together

A small firefly

Pricks a hole in the darkness

That