Hello, Poetry Friend
My friend Callie Feyen wrote a most excellent piece at Tweetspeak Poetry about some Advent-themed writing prompts she’s been using in a workshop. She invited the participants to use their five senses to write haiku about waiting.
“I told the soon-to-be poets about haiku; that it is the type of poetry that can be read in a breath — we inhale the poem, and we exhale the poem — thus slowing our breathing and calming us down. Haiku is the perfect type of poetry for this season because it's a way to be present. Haiku is an opportunity to wait.
In her poetry memoir, Brown Girl Dreaming, Jacquelyn Woodson writes ‘How to Listen’ haiku, so I thought I'd ask the group to write, ‘How to Wait’ haiku. The trick? Don't use the any form of the word ‘wait.’”
So I took Callie’s advice. I wrote five haiku about waiting, without using the four-letter w-word. It’s my Poetry Roundup for December, and I invite it will be yours too.
See
orange, gold, and purple
save the show for Thanksgiving—
silent, our applause
Smell (based on the fact that hardly anyone in the Texas Hill Country can smell between Christmas and Valentine's because of the cedar pollen)
buy holiday scents—
soaps, candles, mulling spices—
pretend to inhale
Touch
we do not ever,
ever—then at the funeral
you give me your side
Taste
between the pouring
and the steeping, unfurls the
fullest five minutes
Hear
drive a little more
around the block and again
just to hear your song
Poetry Journal
Read Callie’s post.
List your five senses and something about each one that makes you think of waiting. Don’t use the word “wait”!
Write five haiku: three lines, 5 syllables / 7 syllables / 5 syllables. (Yes, this is the elementary school version of how to write a haiku, and I am here for it!)
If you like, email me your Advent-waiting haiku.
Take care, Megan