by Peyton Price
Get off the laptop.
You’ll never have any friends!
Mom, these are my friends.
You know what you need?
An attitude adjustment.
“That sounds like garbage.”
A haiku is often described as a three-line poem, with 5 syllables in the first line, 7 syllables in the second
line, and 5 syllables in the third line. Each line should be a complete phrase—in this exercise, do not cheat and break a line in the middle of a prepositional phrase. (Hope you were paying attention the day you learned prepositions!) You should also know that haiku often reveal a “surprise” or shift in perspective in the third line.
line, and 5 syllables in the third line. Each line should be a complete phrase—in this exercise, do not cheat and break a line in the middle of a prepositional phrase. (Hope you were paying attention the day you learned prepositions!) You should also know that haiku often reveal a “surprise” or shift in perspective in the third line.
A haiku about people is sometimes called a senryu. Senryu can be ironic or satiric, and poets can shift between the perspective of two people to exactly that effect. In other words, senryu was made for teenagers.
What was the last time someone didn’t get you at all?
Is there someone whose hypocrisy you want to call out?
Did you ever think of a perfect comeback after it was too late?
What was that conversation about?
Now, what was it really about?
Strip away the details and boil the situation down to a universal theme of misunderstanding, played out in 5 syllables, then 7, then 5.
Peyton Price is the author of Suburban Haiku, a collection of poems that lampoons life in suburbia using the traditional Japanese form.
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