HotD 7/29

So freaking tired
Why did I stay up so late?
My eyeballs, they burn!

Sorry kids, no "Left-Hand Man" today. After going out to Lindy Groove and then the Kettle for Nat's birthday and not getting back until after 2:00 AM, I was entirely too tired to think of anything other than my tiredness when I got up this morning. Come back next week for the rest of the story.

I found this at the infinitely awesome solardeathray.com and feel that it pretty much sums up why I love haiku:

As you can see, the blossom took the brunt of the death ray. The smell was kind of nice. I'm sure these images of a smoldering rose can be used as fuel for bad poetry. Observe:

My love burns for you
A Thermonuclear rose
Now lets go make out

I like writing Haiku, because the toughest part is counting to seven.
Happy Valentines Day!

Science = awesome

Left-Hand Man #3

Others will tell you
It was we that were the cursed,
By that wretched boy

Left-Hand Man #2

Some say he was cursed;
Being born with two left hands
And eyes black as coal

Left-Hand Man #1

Come sit and listen
To the most curious tale
Of the Left-Hand Man

I know, I know, I blew it yesterday by not posting a haiku for the day. In my defense, I didn't want to start the story before planning it out a bit more. At any rate, here it is, the start of "The Left-Hand Man," an epic haiku by Derek Springer. I have no idea how long it's going to be, so you'll just have to check back often! Don't be stingy on those comments either! I makes me feel better knowing I'm not just writing this to myself (though I wouldn't mind I was).

HotD 7/22

Shuffling listlessly,
He knew they weren't coming this time.
And never will they.

I finished reading Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince last night in a marathon session. I don't want to spoil anything, but the ending was super intense and, shall I say, not quite as cheerful as the endings of the other books. That being said, I was in quite the post-modern mood this morning when I woke up and felt like writing something in the style of Salinger or Hemingway. If you've also finished HBP you can probably understand where I'm coming from.

I had an idea today about something that I like to call "Epic Haiku." Essentially, it is a series of Haikus that together tell a singular story. I haven't seen it done before, but I doubt I'm the first to try it. Earlier this summer I challenged myself to write a short work based solely on a title given to me by a third party. I haven't really worked on the challenge at all since the start of May, but I think I might pick it up again on Monday as an ongoing epic haiku. For those who are interested, the title I was given was "The Left-Hand Man." I have a couple good ideas, so be sure to check back often to see how it progresses!

Awesome.

I saw this today while reading boingboing (which you should do too if you love quirky internet culture). It's a collection of community updates from the San Francisco police department. I love how completely over the top the write ups are. I know if it were my job to write up post-crime reports I would totally do the same thing. Anyway, there's a example (taken from the May 24 link):

Monday, May 16, 8:55AM, Auto Burglary Arrest
...He had not run for very long before he realized the two cops were only pacing him. They could see something he could not. With each frantic step a sense of dread nagged at him. The more calm and calculating they were, the further behind he left his common sense, and his panic ratcheted up. As he ran, the black and white radio car glided silently along behind like a predatory whale. The officer chasing him made sure he only ran in one direction. Both the officers could see he had nowhere to go, but the man franticly cast about for escape routes as he fled. He hadn’t planned on being spotted, and though he swiftly ran out of alternatives among the parked cars, he refused to contemplate giving up...

Here's the link: http://www.sfgov.org/site/police_index.asp?id=29096

HotD 7/21

Blazing in the sky
He sends his fiery minions
You win this round, sun

It's freaking hot. It got so hot that my home brewery exploded. Chelsea House has no A/C and a rather unfortunate ability to mimic an oven during the day. Furthermore, I the A/C in my car has cut out again. Curse you Mr. Sun, cursssssseeeeeeeeee yooouuuuuuuuuuu!

HotD 7/20

Crawling from the ground
Not dead yet not quite alive
They thirst for fresh brains

I'll admit it, I love zombies. What is it about them that fascinates us so? The thought of life after death? A fundamental fear of death and decay? Or are they just a metaphor on how we view our society? I suppose they're a little bit of all of the above.

Willkommen

Well, I finally decided to create a blog for all the haikus of the day I was writing, to function as an archive of sorts. So, welcome one and all! In case you were wondering, the reason I started the 'haiku-a-day' was to: 1) have something interesting to put up as my away message while I was at work; 2) allow me a creative outlet to make commentary on all the absurdities of life; and 3) keep my motivated, as nothing motivates me more than a challenge I can continually work toward. There were quite a few decent haikus that I wrote before creating this blog that are unfortunately now lost to the sands of time, but from now on, any haiku I write will end up here, for your viewing pleasure. Thanks for stopping by, be sure to check back often! :)

In case you missed the description, here's a recap:
Let's face it, most poetry is not a lot of fun. Haikus, however, are different; because their only requirement is that you follow the five/seven/five syllable pattern, it is possible to come up with some amazingly creative (and fun!) poems while still remaining legit in the poetry world. That being said, I thought it would be a fun challenge to try to write a haiku every single day* for a whole year.

*May exclude some holidays and weekends.