I appreciate it’s not the most complicated idea: a three-line poem, with each line containing five syllables, seven, then five but still, I write one each morning because it requires a modicum of effort, thought and creativity, and gives me a little fist pump sense of achievement each morning when I condense my thoughts into this structure.
Haiku’s are simple, comically simple in fact as Ricky, the adorable protagonist, in the Hunt for the Wilder People proves, he obsessively writes haikus including the poignant ‘Maggots’.
You don’t need an MA in Poetry to get the concept of haiku but Michelle in Derry Girls didn’t get it when she penned, ‘Boys’. Claiming to be a master of the haiku may not win you any poetry plaudits but some are here are some of mine anyway.
Verdict
Guilt erodes the soul
Spiritual structure helps
Gives a strong ballast
Starters
Crab preparation
A Christmas first. Caught at sea
Now, in my belly
Beginnings
Shame shrinks the present
There is no past or future
This helps and soothes me
Beaches
A missing seagull
Lost in Manchester squawking
Cannot see the sea
English
Counting syllables
Rules for the unruly mind
Maths for the wordsmith
Digital rescue
Saves me from reality
Can’t log off from life
Confusion
In a malaise maze
Clarity will light the way
Dreams of direction
Eerie
Life under lockdown
Urban audio turned low
Surreal silence
Ingredients
A sprinkle of fun
A small dash of devilry
Eat it noisily
E ROY WILLIAMS 