Valentine Haiku 2014

ARTICLE THE 6TH
1408.16

I should have posted this several months ago.  Right after Valentine’s Day, as a matter of fact, because that’s when I wrote it.  Oh well, better late than never.

From my previous entry, you might come to the conclusion that Valentine’s Day is not one of my favorite holidays.  And you would be right.  Probably the only thing that makes me look forward to Valentine’s Day is February 15 — the day after, when the stores begin discounting the remaining candy 50% or more.  (And yes, you can give the credit for my feelings toward the day to She Who Does Not Deserved To Be Named.)

This year, I was in both at least a semi-contemplative and semi-creative mood.  I was listening to one of the two songs that passes for a love song for me these days.  (The other is by The Who, and I’ll leave it to you to decide which song that might be.)  As I was listening to this particular Bon Jovi song, my mind began juggling words around, and a haiku quickly took shape.

A day or two after Valentine’s Day, I shared the haiku with a friend who had posted some poetry expressing a similar sentiment on her blog.  She was . . . somewhat surprised, I think.  She never expected to see Bon Jovi as the subject of a haiku.

I had meant to post the haiku not long after sharing it with her.  For whatever reason, though, I haven’t managed to get to it until now.

Keep one thing in mind as you read this.  Valentine’s Day this year was a relatively good one for me.  And without further ado, I present:

VALENTINE HAIKU 2014

Anthem for today
Is “You Give Love A Bad Name”;
Bon Jovi was right.

-jc-

Copyright © 2014 Johnny Carruthers

Haiku (Or Two) For An Ex

ARTICLE THE 5TH
1311.26

Ah, November.

As I write this, we are in the final days of National Novel Writing Month.  Or as some prefer to call it, NaNoWriMo.  All across the land, untold scores upon scores of people are feverishly hunched over their desktops and laptops, their netbooks and tablets, their typewriters, or even legal pads and spiral notebooks, hoping to produce at the very least the first draft of a novel by 23:59:59 PM on November 30.

And I’ve got nothing.

At least not anything that could become a novel-length narrative.

I did come up with a two-haiku composition not too long ago.  For some unknown reason, I was thinking about my ex-girlfriend — who shall remain nameless, because quite frankly, she doesn’t deserve any additional mention.  But before my mind returned to more pleasant topics, the haiku came to me, and I quickly wrote it down.

I suppose that at least part of my inspiration also came from country chanteuse Taylor Swift.  Therefore, I should extend the appropriate acknowledgements of thanks to Ms. Swift for this:

HAIKU (OR TWO) FOR AN EX

[Bleep] [bleep] [bleep] [bleep] [bleep],
[Bleep] [bleep] [BLEEP] [bleep] [bleep] [bleep] [bleep],
[Bleep] [bleep] [bleep] [bleep] [bleep].

[Bleep] [bleep] [bleep] [bleep] [bleep]:
Use your imagination —
[Bleep] [bleep] [bleep] [bleep] [BLEEP]!

-jc-

Copyright ©  2013 Johnny Carruthers

How Many, Dr. Sagan?

ARTICLE THE 4TH
1308.11

As I mentioned in my last entry, something finally clicked when it came to writing haiku when I was in college.  This was one of those haiku I wrote at the time.  It was inspired by the PBS series Cosmos, and especially by its host, the late Dr. Carl Sagan.

HOW MANY, DR. SAGAN?

Billions and billions,
The stars in our galaxy . . .
According to Carl.

Copyright © 2013 Johnny Carruthers

Twelve By Five

ARTICLE THE 3RD
1308.10

When I was in elementary school, there were a couple of times when we spent a day or two on haiku.  I hated it.  Not so much the poetry form itself, but because my teachers had us all try our hands at writing our own haiku.  At the time, I just couldn’t make anything fit the three lines, 17 syllables, and the 5-7-5 pattern.  And let’s not mention the little fact that I had just as much difficulty coming up with a subject that was suitable for a haiku.  (The aforementioned teachers were insisting that our haiku have something to do with nature.  I think I eventually wrote one about magnets.)

Fast forward about a dozen years.  By then, I was in college, and in one of my courses, we had something to do with haiku at one point.  (I’m not completely certain, but I think it must have been SAT121 — Intro To Interpretation.)  I don’t know what happened, but everything clicked into place this time.  I think it may have been that my professor told the class to write on whatever subject we chose.

This time around, I found myself able to juggle syllables in my head.  It’s something that has stuck with me, and I occasionally find myself committing acts of poetry in the strangest places.

Such is the case in the following haiku submitted for your approval.  I was on my bike, and I was musing on related matters when I realized that I had five-syllable word.  Could I use it in a haiku?  After a few minutes, I learned that the answer was yes.

TWELVE BY FIVE

Platonic solid,
Twelve pentagonal faces,
Dodecahedron.

-jc-

Copyright © 2013 Johnny Carruthers