Haiku is a traditional Japanese poetry form, written in 17 syllables divided into three lines of 5, 7, and 5 syllables. These poems tend to employ evocative images, often on the subject of nature or one of the seasons. So, as a group, the class wrote about spring!
Dr. Kenney explains, “First, we came up with 25 phrases related to spring, and wrote our phrases on the board. We divided them into five separate categories (sight, smell, sound, touch, taste). After much consideration, we decided on four that we liked as a class:
Mouthfuls of clear air
Fresh air against bare legs
Birds warble and trill
the drone of a bee’s lullaby
Next, we had to come up with sentences that we could and divide into three lines. From these phrases, we came up with:
Birds warble and trill against the drone of a bee’s lullaby.
Breezes chill bare legs.
I sip mouthfuls of clean air.
In order to create a true haiku, we reduced it further to accommodate the 5, 7, 5 syllable format. This is the Spring 2018 Creative Writing Class’s haiku on springtime:
Breezes chill bare legs
Birds trill to bees’ lullabies
I sip the clean air
Thanks for reading! - IHA’s WWW (Women Writer Warriors)”