Five One Line Haiku

By bgfay

the ticking of the clock in this tired body.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

buds explode in blossom.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

leaves fall. down. down. down.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

snow. deep, silent, waiting.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

the body continues, the body goes on.

as prompted by One Deep Breath

15 Responses to “Five One Line Haiku”

  1. Pearl Says:

    Like the 1st best.

    if there was some way to separate these out on the page so each gets proper breath time?

    maybe for presentation?

    a haiku
    *
    *
    *
    (center in html tag)
    *
    *
    *
    (align left)
    *
    *
    *

  2. Crafty Green Poet Says:

    I enjoyed thes, I think the first one is my favourite but the second is very much Spring…. I agree with Pearl about separating them out, maybe a line of dots or stars between each haiku.

  3. Brian Says:

    Or maybe arrows.

    Love the connection to the body and falling snow.

  4. Regina Clare Jane Says:

    The leaves falling… that was a great one. Simple, simple, simple…

  5. bgfay Says:

    Thank you all. I agree that they need to be separated out and have done so here. See if this works for you. I would love to hear if it looks right.

  6. Ron Says:

    As a 60 something I relate to the first one too. The “leaves fall down down down” is also a great one like Regina said.
    About the punctuation thing I read this on the Haiku clinic page:
    ‘ A one-line poem does not include forced pauses, indicated by space, grammar, syntax, or punctuation, though it may include logical punctuation, as in the case of multiple adjectives preceding a noun.’ Oh, well, what are rules for if not the breaking?

  7. Rose Dewy Knickers Says:

    I like the separation like this. Just like the seasons.

    I used punctuation in my one liners, am I a bad girl? ;)

    Rose

    xo

  8. bgfay Says:

    I’m partial to punctuation too, but that’s mostly because I’m such a tight-ass. I like the control it gives me over the movement of the reading. David Shumate, a prose poet, had some good things to say about this. He uses punctuation as well as any poet I’ve ever read.

    Did I just admit to the world that I’m a tight-ass?

  9. Gerald Says:

    one of the points about one-line haiku [the term "one-liners" grates] is that they should flow and punctuation normally stops the flow whereas lack of punctuation allows the words to interact with each other more giving the chance of multiple experiences for the reader.

    I like the first of these most and can almost tolerate the presence of the full stop as being integral

  10. bgfay Says:

    When the prompt came out on One Deep Breath I had no idea whatsoever how to do it. I’m seeing more and more how they work.

    And Gerald, I love the “almost tolerate” line. I thought I was the only one who talked like that!

  11. Marcia (MeeAugraphie) Says:

    The first is my favorite, but I had fun making my voice fall down down down with the leaves.

  12. jem Says:

    The snow one is especially strong for me. It really made me pause, slow my breathing and focus on every word. When there are many each word has far greater impact.

  13. Becca Says:

    I agree with Jem…when I read the snow haiku, I could actually feel my heartbeat slowing down…down…down

    Amazing, with so few words. Quite masterful!

  14. dpoetic1 Says:

    …beautiful, I enjoyed it!

  15. martin Says:

    a distant blossom unfolds into an egret

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