I’ve put a couple of haikus on the site since January – I don’t consider myself a haiku writer, nor do I sit down and actively try to write haikus. Rather, they seem to “come” when they come and arrive as they will. I have no complaints.
A few nights ago one found me in a really wonderful dream that went like this:
I was at a conference. Hillary Clinton was sitting next to me. She was flirting with me in a passive sort of way, or in the least was very friendly. We were writing haikus together, which had something to do with the conference itself.
Hillary had no time for the whole notion of “exploring thoughts” or “following the stream of consciousness,” though I was trying to impress both upon her while explaining that my interpretation of a “good haiku” is one that joins two things together in a very brief, eternally present moment.
My haiku had to do with my father sitting on a porch. Not only was I writing it in the dream, but I was also editing it. (I remember distinctly editing out the word “are”, which is a good word to edit out in just about any piece of writing.)
In my second draft, my second line was the longest; in my third, my last line was the longest – as in life, I wasn’t following any American convention of 5-7-5. I simply don’t agree with it and I wish teachers would stop professing that haikus must be written in this form . . . but I digress.
When I woke up, the actual haiku had evaporated – I couldn’t recall it word for word, but I reconstructed the three versions I remember having worked on –
First:
There you are on the porch
I wonder if my father
Is as beautiful as always
(notice the word “are” in the first line)
Second:
On the porch
my father is as beautiful
as always
Third/Final
My father
on the porch
as beautiful as always
