the fascinating literary work - haiku : July 28 2024

it was a hot summer day but still chose to got out for lunch; hunger was a greater force than the combined elements of the burning sun and global warming.
my mouth was longing for a certain flavor; but i ordered wrongly for lunch.
my craving was not satisfied at all.
it would have been a devastating day and my mood was at the border of annoyance, until we passed by an elementary school.
and these school probably had a competition with the best ones displayed by the gate for everyone to enjoy.
they posted haiku.

for the unfamiliar, a haiku is an unrhymed poetic form with three lines consisting of 5 - 7 - 5 syllables respectively.
according to my readings, it originally came from the opening three lines of much longer oral poems which by itself conveyed a certain reaction to an event on a specific season.
haiku was later popularized in the 17th century by the great poet Basho.
^source

i first stumbled upon this poetic style in my 2nd year of high school (yes, your nightwalker also knows a bit of poetry).
but back then, it was just hard to appreciate.
from what i understood now, a good haiku has to capture the writers reaction upon seeing or experiencing something.
this capturing of fleeting emotions is what makes it so poetic.

here were some of the haiku which somehow brightened my mood that day.

atsu sugite (too hot)
aisu ga tokete (the ice cream melted)
saiaku da (it was the worst)

written by a 6th grader, this captured how hot it was that day.
this somehow makes you think of which was the worst, eating a melted ice cream or how hot it must have been that the ice cream melted.
i think it was the latter, i love eating melted ice cream.

natsu no umi (summer sea)
hiyake ni natte (sunburnt)
hada itai (my skin hurts)

again written by a 6th grader, this made me envious a bit, i also wanted to go to the beach this summer.
summer is indeed the best season to go to the beach and to get sunburnt means that either you failed to apply sunscreen or you had a blast under the sun.
i hope it was the latter, every time the skin hurts you will be reminded of the fun time you had and eventually smile thinking about it.

natsu yasumi (summer break)
masuku ga nakute (without masks)
saikou da (is the best)

written by a 3rd grader, somehow shows how simple minded children can be at the surface but can have deep interpretations on second look.
this hits hard for us who went through this past pandemic, not wearing masks is indeed the best thing for that means that we have triumphed over the virus.
we, as citizens of the world, have surpassed a crippling point in our shared human history.
i fully hope that we remain free from masks not only on summer breaks but for the entire year and even for the upcoming years.

ajisai ga (hydrangeas)
atsusa ni makezu (undefeated by the hotness)
saite iru (bloom)

written by a 6th grader, just makes me feel hopeful; it was an ahhh moment.
it was so full of hope that no matter how jarring the circumstances might be, we will win it all just like how hydrangeas bloom.
tough times create tough warriors!

haiku might appear shallow and simple, 17 syllables is certainly too short.
but the interpretations you can extract from these 17 syllables are boundless, and that i think is the true beauty of a haiku.

as always, AMPING KANUNAY!