Mitsuaki Kojima

　Composing a poem that is rich in imagery and meaning is an especially challenging task when the author also has to pare words and syllables down to the 3-5-3 syllable form favored by haiku composers. To meet this challenge, Singaporean haikuist Yue-Li Lim teamed up with American Charlie Smith to compose this pithy haiku.

Candles glow
thru' lanterns in yard
misty rain

　Via e-mail, Smith described his garden to Lim in full-bodied prose. She picked up the key words and phrases from his story, spliced the preposition "through" on the second line for poetic effect, and positioned the seasonal reference to mist on the third line to make the image linger awhile in the readers mind.

　In contrast to the word-splicing technique, some poets prefer using caesura-an effective poetic pause that breaks the flow of sound in the middle of a line of verse. This pause marks the rhythmic point of division in a melody. Zinovy Vayman achieves this effect with the weighty adjective dead.

　Night time race_
　clouds scud 'cross the sky
　snag crescent moon

　In the next poem by Nishimura, the seasonal reference is placed at the outset. She chose not to shorten the word "through" because it leads off the next two lines. Those second and third lines are enjambed-meaning their sense and grammar run from one line over into the next line.

　Autumn night
　through kitchen window
　two moths connect

　German haikuist Jorg Rakowski similarly employed the preposition on his first line.

　Through the village
　as a stranger
　open doors

　Writing from Australia, Lorne Henry comes in frequent contact with animals. She used to live in the outback where rain is a very precious event. Much of the country suffered from drought last year, but it has thankfully been raining a fair bit this spring. Our haikuist and just about every living thing down under likely feels quite joyous when it rains. The sounds of birds are particularly remarkable.

　She says "the baby galahs are so funny; quite wobbly and they make a terrible racket. There is one pair of adult galahs that has become reasonably tame, but of course the babies are the ones to more readily accept my presence if they know me right from the start."

　Here is a fresh haiku from her about the Australian bird. It is followed by a haiku from Marites Omori in Yamanashi about a newborn child.

　First day out
　baby galahs
　raucous cries

　Morning chill
　awakens first child
　crowded bed

Want to try composing haiku ?

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