Transforming Fridays with Nature's Wonders

Hello! Welcome to day seventeen of poem-a-day for the month of April – congratulations to everyone participating in this writing – reading – poetry-loving event!

And because it’s National Poetry Month I’d like to take the time to feature a form that is particular to the expression of nature – we’ll celebrate and recognize haiku today because today is NATIONAL HAIKU POETRY DAY –April 17!!

We’ll speak in the tongue of nature…any facet of the wild-natural-world that we choose. Express your poetry today in the traditional style of haiku or step into a modern manifestation of haiku in English.

The most well-known Japanese haiku:

old pond . . .

a frog leaps in

water's sound

Bashō's "old pond":

And one from the haiku movement in North America:

Snow in my shoe

Abandoned

Sparrow's nest

Jack Kerouac (collected in Book of Haikus, Penguin Books, 2003)

Feel free to be expansive in your choice of POV explore a different voice, (is there a plant or animal that would like to be the breath of your poem today). Sight-see and bring us the place of your choosing, (include an images if you wish).

If you'd like – write a series of haiku and chain them together or craft a singular vision. Have fun and sink into the skin of this amazing ancient and modern form.

 I’m attempting to keep this post brief but please, stopover to the links I’ve provided for further explanations on the holiday and the haiku form itself.

The poetry you link today must be haiku, and must be new – written specifically for this post. Thank you!

Please, add your link to Mr. Linky, leave a comment and visit your syllable-counting nature-loving friends!

Happy writing!