Wednesday, April 23, 2014

Spine Haiku: Variations on an Ending


You'd never know it to take a look at this blog, but I love poetry. It's a love that came to me while I was in college because nothing much was said or done about that art form while I was in high school. During those university years, I had a full-blown love affair, especially with the English Romantics and Victorians, and with Robert Frost and Emily Dickinson.

It was probably Emily Dickinson's style that led me to the Japanese form of haiku: a three-line poem consisting of lines of five, seven, and five syllables. Haiku normally are fleeting glimpses of nature, but since they are the only sort of poem that I've ever been able to write, I've bent the rules a time or two. That's why I decided to bend them for National Poetry Month.

I've seen posts on book blogs over the years showing "spine poetry," in which bloggers have made poems from the titles showing on spines of books. That's always appealed to me. This year I decided to do a little spine poetry of my own, but I always have to play around with the rules. The two rules I added are: (1) the "spines" would be from my crime fiction to-be-read shelves, and (2) the poems would all be haiku.

It didn't take me long to find two books that just seemed to fit together. The problem was that I found four different endings. I'm going to show them all to you and let you choose your favorite. How's that?


#1


The Boy in the Snow
Started Early, Took My Dog.
Death Lurks in the Bush.




#2


The Boy in the Snow
Started Early, Took My Dog...
Going Nowhere Fast.



#3


The Boy in the Snow
Started Early, Took My Dog...
Death in the Dark Walk.



#4


The Boy in the Snow
Started Early, Took My Dog...
Faces of the Gone.



They all turned out a bit foreboding, didn't they? Which one do you prefer-- 1, 2, 3, or 4?  Inquiring spine haiku poets would love to know!



10 comments:

  1. How fun! I like Going Nowhere Fast the best!

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    1. That's the way *my* walks with a dog have always gone, Kathy! LOL

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  2. This is brilliant, Cathy! You're quite talented.

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  3. I love this Haiku twist! I agree with Kathy - "Going Nowhere Fast" is the best, unless you want. to play up the crime aspect, then I would choose "Death Lurks in the Bush".

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    1. I'm glad you like my little adventure into poetry, Debbie. More to come on Friday!

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  4. Another vote for Going Nowhere Fast!

    What a great idea this is! I'm off to scan my own (mostly mystery) shelves ...

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    1. Looks like I have a clear favorite. Thanks so much for stopping by and leaving a comment, Kate. I would be very interested in seeing your spine haiku, should you choose to compose some! :-)

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  5. What a great idea -- and clever, too.

    I'd say "Going Nowhere Fast," as it's not morbid like the others. Even though we read crime fiction, we may not choose death as a conclusion to a haiku. Fun gets to fit in here sometimes.

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