still avalanche
above the horizon :
vadro sky.
Note: Vadro is the 5th month of Bangla year. The Autumn season starts from Vadro.
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Based on the debate below, I should like to begin with a small lesson on the haiku.
The poem structure of the haiku is complicated by the fact that Japanese and English understand syllables in similar, but difference ways. Japanese 'on' are similar to English syllables in pronunciation but written as English letters. This means that from the very beginning, haikus that are not written in Japanese will need to follow different rules! The syllable rule is the common rule that schoolkids learn, but there are more.
Haiku also contain a kireji, a concept similar to English caesura. This is a place in the poem where the flow pauses or breaks. In this poem, we see the kireji at 'horizon:' - read aloud, the reader would pause here.
The final 'rule' of haiku is the inclusion of a 'kigo', or seasonal reference. Here, we see the kigo is 'vadro'.
My sources are Wikipedia's Haiku and Haiku in English pages and a year of Japanese courses, should you wonder.
"What is the point of all this?," one might ask. I'm getting there, promise.
If one makes a habit of reading haiku, one might have noticed that no longer do all haiku contain a kigo. Some don't even include kireji (though I would argue that tends to make for a weaker poem; it's subjective)! To me, this suggests that the medium is evolving. English haiku no longer follow the rules of classical Japanese haiku (indeed, arguably, they never truly did), and so whether or not this poem 'is' a haiku or not appears to me as a moot point.
Okay. Now I'll talk about the actual poem for a little!
The primary focus of this poem seems to be the visual image of the sky. 'still avalanche' does make for a compelling contrast between the implied movement of an avalanche and its 'stillness'. Minor quibble here nevertheless - 'still avalanche' sounds poetic, and certainly is, but I'm not sure what that would actually look like. Perhaps it means to telegraph an emotion, but that, too, is lost in the mist.
The use of the strange word I do like. The poem doesn't come together so to speak until that last word, 'sky', and knowing that vadro means the beginning autumn does help pull together the fragments of an image. I also like the way the period ends the whole poem; it feels definitive.
I would suggest finding a new title, because as stands, the placeholder isn't terribly intriguing. 'vadro sky', perhaps; use that unusual word to your advantage!
Thanks a lot
I didn't fully understand the poem till I saw the note at the bottom. It was a little confusing but really, hiakus normally are. I think you probably should have put in autumn in instead of vadro because it still adds up to three syllables. Wait this isn't even a hiaku. I'm not quite sure if u knew but hiakus follow a very specific structure that must be followed. You need to have five syllables and then seven and then five again. I'm not sure if this was supposed to be a hiaku or not but I'm pretty sure u know what a hiaku is. It was very confusing but the words do flow.
hmm, this is a haiku - should be. without following the syllable counting. i know, haiku are supposed to have 5-7-5 syllable counting.. but, in English haiku, it's not really that much obligatory. you may or may not follow the counting. depends on the poet and the theme he is writing the haiku on.
and i used Vadro to bring a change.. that's all.
thanks for the review ^-^
All the English haikus I have ever seen have 5-7-5 syllables. I know in Japanese they're not actually counting the syllables and that means English haikus are not really the same.
hmm, right.. but i have read haiku without following the syllable counting.