9:23pm October 25, 2014

I’ve been trying my hand at haiku today.

It’s partly because of my father. Haiku is poetry that depends entirely on sensory experience. It’s not meant for the author to interpret, only to record what we see. There are often two different parts that come together in a novel or surprising way, much like a sonnet (but also much unlike a sonnet). But it does remind me of writing sonnets.

They’re supposed to be very short, very sparse, using as few words as possible to convey as much meaning as possible. That reminds me of my writing when I was first beginning to connect with language in a consistent way. It was very dense with meaning.

I feel like I’ve told my dad I love him, i’ve told him all the things I’ve meant to tell him before he dies, at least all the things he can.

And now I just want to give him images of beauty he can take with him.

So if you see a lot of haiku or related forms of poetry, it’s because I’m trying to paint pictures with words, for my parents, in their final days, weeks, months, and years Because the world is a beautiful place, and this type of poetry is one of the best ways to convey that.