I’ve been trying to teach haiku. It’s a fun activity for when time is short at the end of the year. I especially like it because it’s simple, yet it forces kids to really choose their words carefully, something they are not often wont to do.
One student, having trouble with the form asked if I could go over it again and write one on the board for him…
First, five syllables
The second line has seven
Third line follows first
and then, this…
Haikus are poems
Usually do not rhyme
Just keep it simple
For some reason they found these amusing.
James Brush is a teacher and writer who lives in Austin, TX. He tries to get outside as much as possible.
Yah – you’re funny.
Yeah. I slay me.
Your poem points out
the discrepancy between
spelling and speaking.
To me, “usually”
and “comfortably” are pronounced
with only three beats.
*L* I will be interested if your students produced any haikus of note
Jessica, You made my day by commenting in haiku. You’re absolutely right. I had to look up “usually” in the dictionary to make sure I had it right. Often it’s just yoush’ly. I’m not so good at phonetic spelling, but maybe you get my drift.
Mallory, I have gotten some that are good, and a few of note, but I get alot that are… well, let’s say not noteworthy. But then everyone starts somewhere.
Thanks James. And likewise–I obviously got a kick out of your own haikus. I think my pronunciation and elisions are just an indication of laziness; you had it right.
Yet bending pronunciation for the sake of meter is nothing new in literature. My favorite example is the famous “banish-ed” speech that Romeo gives. It sounds much worse to be banish-ed than just to be banish’d from the town where Juliet lives.