Recently I have found a new creative outlet to take my mind off the list of things going on in my life. From belt sanding the 300 sq foot floor of our bedroom, to the US election, product design pressures in work, the european constitution project I'm working on and the inevitable UK election and whether I can vote for Labour in the spring.
My new outlet is what is commonly called haiku, though often disparagingly. In fact mostly people write senryu. The key difference being haiku are about nature and include specific words to reflect season, the senryu are about human foibles.
Further references on haiku cover the life of Basho, one of the foremost masters of the art. There are a range of site covering the art haiku.com and Japanese site, the wikipedia definition. This is a lovely site, with some nice illustration, as is this one.
It is a thoughful pastime usually consisting of 3 lines and 17 syllables distributed in 5, 7 and 5. The intent is to capture or indicate a moment, a fleeting sensation usually of nature. My first efforts represent the lovely light from October.
dramatic light
veering sideways makes faces
glow as autumn leaves
More as I write them. The wonderful moleskine is the tool for writing haiku / senryu in, as they are perfect for writing on the train. Saves reading some tabloid over someone else's shoulder or feverishly typing on your powerbook.
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