Haikus for your consideration---or not:

[Atticus]

Why are we silent
as the ship of state steams on
Toward the world's edge?

Tell me please just why
you tell me I must reach out
to traitors and fools

Dishonest people
No matter how far they run
Must live with themselves

[I_UndergroundPanther]

1. Excellent

Really enjoyed them. Thanks😸

[Karadeniz]

2. Well done!!!

[SheltieLover]

3. Great work

[malthaussen]

4. Gesundheit.

"Five syllables here
Seven more syllables there
Are you happy now?"

I have been known to conduct whole conversations in haiku. They get progressively sillier, though.

-- Mal

[Atticus]

5. Oh, yeah?

If five seven five
is such a great formula
why not so draft laws?

[Harker]

6. ...

I like three

five two too many

brevity

[Atticus]

7. ,,,,

That was fine
the essence lingers
so concise

[Harker]

8. ...

ideas distilled

into elemental bits

can carry much force

[malthaussen]

10. ...

An improv haiku
Can be a thing of beauty
But it can suck, too.

-- Mal

[Harker]

11. ...

You got that right!

[Atticus]

12. ...

It certainly can
but then, spontaneity
is its own reward

[malthaussen]

14. ..

And a good thing, too
because there is no money
in writing haiku

-- Mal

[Atticus]

15. ...

Yes, 'tis a pity
if a poem does not rhyme
it's disregarded

[malthaussen]

20. ..

No rhyme, no content
unless it fits the pattern
just arithmetic.

-- Mal

[Atticus]

21. ---

Poems without rhymes
were once described as "tennis
without any net"

[malthaussen]

22. ..

I've written both kinds
both build vocabulary
the words have to fit.

-- Mal

[Atticus]

24. ---

I, too, have
written both and think maybe
each can be special

[malthaussen]

23. ..

But haikus aren't bad
try a sestina some time
those are crazy hard.

-- Mal

[Atticus]

25. ---

I had to look up
sestina and I found them
way too much like math

[malthaussen]

26. "On the Sestina"

"On the Sestina"


It need not rhyme, I'm told
Which takes a load off my mind!
Though I can scribe a cunning verse
When need calls. Still, I favor freedom
The chains of structure are troublous to me
No doubt because I strive to be too clever.

But I shall put that from my mind
Though it may seem to wit I am averse;
And think, instead, how I may find freedom
Within constraints that challenge me.
Although a "moon" or "june" would be more clever
I'll struggle on until the tale of Six is told.

I'll cheat as needed, for no universe
Is quite complete without the sweets of freedom.
As another, greater poet said, no chains can bind me
Although in durance hurled for being too clever.
And though this form is daunting, as is told
I'll seek to give a glimpse into my mind.

This I may do with freedom,
For indeed, I care not what you make of me.
Although the crowd may think me dim or clever
I pay no heed to what I have been told:
Laugh as you list, I surely will not mind.
Although a plaint about the form must seem perverse.

One might observe it ill-becomes me
And is in fact the opposite of clever
To criticize the form in which is told
The struggle carried on within the mind
In seach of what should be a pretty verse.
'Tis arrogance which I confuse with freedom.

Who says this proves himself too clever
For my retort, for truth be told
My wit lies solely in my mind.
And though I may indite a little verse
Because the art of Poesy is of freedom
A drunken Clayman in a test would best me.

So, I would crave you pay no mind to me
Or celebrate the freedom of this verse.
It may be clever, it may be bold, but whatever it is, it has been told.

-- Mal

[Atticus]

27. I AM IN AWE!

Stick a fork in me---I'm done!

[lark]

9. Don't know Haiku rules, but what you wrote is awesome.

Excellent question and excellent observations.

[highplainsdem]

13. Looming threats your muse,

Your haikus catch our focus
On those things we fear.

[Atticus]

16. ...

We've had better days
of that you can be certain
but we'll persevere

[highplainsdem]

17. Two thumbs up!

And I'm not going to try to reply in a haiku. Even though that last one took only a couple of minutes, it was my first in about fifty years, since college, and I'm probably done haikuing for another fifty.

[Atticus]

18. Ya done good! nt

[highplainsdem]

19. Thanks!