New Haiku for my poem-a-day project

The average for this week is falling short of target. I fell back on this format, as it seems to work for me.
I was having trouble creating poems in longer formats. Lots of ideas, but no real progress towards new poems. very disappointing!






Rain lashed ears of corn
Heads bowed, swaying in the wind
The cold earth waiting.



Dark flowing water
Mirroring  pain in my heart;
Silence hides the hurt.



Old age saps spirit;
Old age consumes memories;
Memories do fade.



Again unsure if these are traditional; subjects, but at least this keeps the average up. Hopefully be back soon with more poems.

Poems written after a visit to The National Space Centre Rocket Tower

Another poem written after visiting the National Space Centre at Leicester.

Blast Off

Standing alongside

That silver rocket,

Power and Grace

Displayed with a spirit.

Man-made, massive,

Four stories high.

Imagine ignition.

Imagine it fly.

Black streak, Blue Streak;

Their names speak to me.

Excitement embodied,

My mind wandered free

Count down commenced

Imagine the tension.

5, 4, 3, 2, 1;

Blast off. Action.

Just watch it go.

In the Rocket Tower at the National Space Centre stands a massive Black Streak Rocket; one of the last designed and built by the UK. It seems to be built out of aluminium and gleams with a silvery colour. It actually stands next to a Thor Able rocket from the USA which is painted, I know which stood out for me. You can stand at the foot of the rockets and look up to see the topmost sections. A lift takes you up four floors so that you can appreciate the whole length of the rockets. They truly are an amazing sight.

My First Haiku - and more

I wrote this post a while ago, but it never got published,, staying in draft. I have now published it as written so it is somewhat out of sequence.

I have been toying with new formal poetry forms and this is such a popular form that I though I ought to try it out.

Poems arise from words

And words will live forever

Forget me not

The Haiku is of course a japanese form, which has three lines with 5 / 7 / 5 syllables to give a total count of 17 syllables. Otherwise there are no rules. I believe that the original subject of this form of poetry was nature or natures effects.

Red flowers abound

In a battle field of old

Blood colours the earth

I find this such a "deep" form, in that the words must take on such a lot of meaning. I really think that this could have a major influence on my poetry. Up until now my style has been almost conversational withou much though for these deeper meanings. I have tried one or two abstract poems (or something along those lines ) but this I think will have ultimately more effect on my thinking about poetry and hence on the poems I write.

Inspiration grows

Poetry brings new thinking

I improve my skills

I am not sure that these are any good but I am creating them in real time as I write this post - it was originally only supposed to be about my first Haiku.

Light fades with sunset

Hail the coming of the night

Now wild creatures rest

Now this is getting silly, I think it is time that I stopped and took stock of exactly what it means to write Haiku. But I have one question, "Does Haiku have a title?"

The Clerihew - another poetry form

 Well if I have to say so myself, writing poetry to a different format seems to have released a torrent of new ideas.

I decided to try another form and see if the change did me some good creatively. Which one I wondered. The answer was presented in a new Squidoo Lens on the subject of The Clerihew, I came across whilst browsing. It is a humerous or whimsical format a format invented by a Edmund Clerihew bently. Basically it is a four line poem, with a rhyming sceme of AABB but no metre or syllable count restrictions, the lines often having irregular length.

It is often biographical; written about a person, and the first line should contain, or consist solely of that persons name.

So, my first two examples are from the world of pop music:-

You'll be aware that Mick Jagger

Despite his wrinkles has a swagger

But looks are deceiving

Just look at the attention he is receiving

and the second uses the cockney rhyming slang, Hank Marvin = Starvin'

Starvin' Hank Marvin

Gets my feet tappin'

He's my guitar Hero

All others rate zero

And this one in honour of the olympics

Consider Sir Roger Bannister

Raised to knighthood from just a mister

In championship style

He ran a four minute mile

I will be looking hard at other forms to widen the scope of the poetry I am writing. The discipline seems to work for me.

Haiku Poetry - A New Challenge

Although I was finding a poem-a-day was a drifting, it was not the lack of ideas. The number of Haiku, written in one day, below shows this I bellieve. Maybe the challenge was just running out of steam after a few weeks. Miss one day and it is easier to miss another. As the missed days mount up it becomes easier to miss yet more. A form of procrastination perhaps?

Or perhaps it was finding the time? I was creating Haiku in very short breaks or whilst walking along. I found it easy to remember the three lines and write them down in my notebook in seconds. Whereas, longer poems need to be recorded and edited more fully; sometimes several times before considering an initial posting.

Maybe it is a compounding of both reasons.

Or maybe I am analysing things too much?

What ever the cause, I need to find the time each day to write. I have been writing poems in my notebook as I go – on the fly as it were. Maybe I should be capturing ideas and use them later at a time set aside for the poem. At least this way there is no excuse for procrastination. If the notes don’t work, then use some of the many prompts I have been collecting in the last post.

Whatever, here are eleven Haiku which I wrote yesterday. I have been toying with this poetry form for three days and they do seem to come particularly easily. Of course whilst enjoying writing I am unsure about wether I am staying true to the themes and "rules" of Haiku, see Haiku Heights  a blog giving weekly prompts for Haiku (what else?) and gives a definition and rules for various Haiku (?) forms.

One question; Should Haiku be titled?

Warm sun, bright blue sky;
Holiday season arrives.
Sad; my work begins.


Happy tree gives shade,
Relief from the burning sun
Rest awhile; give thanks


Silver trunk grows straight
Whispering leaves, wind blown
Silver birch grows tall


Relax time passes
Your turn will come, learn, enjoy
Anticipation.


Harsh words cause real pain.
Take care speak gently my friend,
For pain brings harsh words


A gate stands open
Will you enter discover
Its destination


Mysteries abound
Dark forces intent on harm
Meditate; stay calm


Original art
Born within the artist’s mind
Creativity.


Existence is now
What came before is unknown
Accept and believe.


Faster, faster still
Rushing getting nowhere fast
Slowdown, relax, live


Modernity rules
Excuses many faux pas
Give me the old days

Hope that you enjoyed reading these and if so please come back as I intend to carry on creating these little poems. You can also read more about my challenge ( a poem-a-day) on my Squidoo website, A Poem-a-day. Thanks for getting this far.

Oh yes, I have just added a networked blogs widget, why not follow this blog, ans show it a little love?

New Poems; A Poem and Nearly Roused To Action

Well the project is faltering but I have had a very busy and difficult time at home.

But here is my answer:-

A Poem

To write a poem about a poem
Almost seems incestuous
But right now I need a subject,

It’s really quite innocuous.

I gave myself a challenge
Write a poem every day.
At first it seemed quite easy
But today, who knows, OK.

Where to start? I need a theme
That I can write about
And then consider what to say
Make it novel so it stands out.

The first line is the hardest
And then others follow on,
The rhymes provide ideas
Until the game is won.

So please excuse this subject
I‘ve struggled for so long;
I’ll write a poem about a poem
It’s really not so wrong.

Well the poem says it all. I have gone a few days without writing anything (or at least anything poetical) and needed to end the dry run. Why not write about the difficulty I have been having. This was the result. It certainly seemed to work since the next poem came in the afternoon. There were quite a few changes as I wrote it and again when I typed it up, but that is to be expected. Hopefully the continual editing is beneficial.

The second piece today:-

Nearly Roused To Action

Nocturnal cries

Eternal sighs,

Dark nightly sobbing.

Unknown sad song

Who knows what wrong

Has been committed?

In the distance,

Some disturbance

Rends the quiet calm.

Should I worry?

What can I do?

Just raise an alarm?

Another witness

To this sign of distress

Will surely make that call.

Safely in bed

Hey, sleepy head;

Pull the covers up!

Not sure where this one came from. I had been reading some “abstract” poems on the internet and thinking about pairs of words which sounded good together. The first lines came together very quickly but I did not plan anything. In fact after the third verse, I completely changed the direction of the poem. Not sure if I like it but it certainly makes me think, “What would I do?”