Culinary SmackDown is at Ether Capacious
I'se blushin' to say how proud I is to have won BuzzKill's "Sweat" themed Haiku Monday this week. Thar' wuz so many good, even slick entries that all should take a bow.
Thanky BuzzKill!
Fer Haiku Monday this week, August 1st, Aunty will host an' judge (with hep--see below)
Our theme this week is .....WHISTLE (includes any tense/ compound word/ phrase)
An' jes' to, er, wet yore whistle lemme offer these quotes fer possible inspiration:
"Four hoarse blasts of a ship's whistle still raise the hair on my neck and set my feet to tapping."
--John Steinbeck
"It's an odd state to be in, blowing the whistle on your home country."
--Michael Ondaatje
"It was a perfect night for a train. The occasional whistle told Louis of all the farewells he had ever known. "
-- Charles Tennyson Turner
"First there was racism. Then liberals created institutional racism and coded racism. You can only hear it with a dog whistle."
--Evan Sayet
"Just whistle while you work."
--Snow White
"We're going to play with full effort from snap to whistle on every play the entire game."
--Steve Spurrier
"Composers should write tunes that chauffeurs and errand boys can whistle. "
--Thomas Beecham
"The only prize I ever won wuz a yellow whistle in a box of Cracker Jacks."
---Uncle Aloysius
As a refresher --or for new comers (welcome!!) --the traditional Haiku format is 17 syllables divided into three lines of 5-7-5. Haiku can be that simple.
However....
Y'all be so clever now, that I wonder do we wanna return to "Old school protocol" for points?
Our muse is the esteemed, beloved Master Basho who speaks to us from Troll Stroll. In homage to Master Basho, I thought we might have a refresher course on "old school" Haiku via the Troll's coaching. Classic Haiku makes reference to nature or a season. This reference word--kigo--is not necessarily a direct reference, such as, "On winter's icy breath..." but often a subtle signifier, a poetic allusion: "Swelling branches of the plum trees..." to indicate early spring. In English, this reference to nature (or season) can be used as part of the emotion evoked in the Haiku--i.e. "stormy visage."
Yet another layer is added to Haiku when the traditional "cutting word," kireji, is employed to switch directions, or end the poem with a surprise conclusion--an unexpected image/ insight. Kireji can also be punctuation. Kireji serves to separate two distinct thoughts. Here's an example from Troll's analysis of entries by Chickory and Fleur some weeks ago:
Chickory
gimme a bluesman
even a hot georgia day
means a suit and hat
Troll wrote: "It sounds great spoken. It grips the listener with mostly one syllable words with the three two syllable words providing resonance and rhythm. But it didn’t LOOK good on screen especially when it came packaged between two other haiku with the same no punctuation style. The opportunity was there to capitalize G in gimme, the E in even, and to put a period after bluesman to give it kireji."
Another finalist from that week wuz
Fleurdeleo's
Wrapped in new couture
not lover's arms. Pearls, heavy,
where her heart should be.
Troll gave high marks for Fleur's "economy of words that tell a clear story." An' that is the the essence of Haiku-- in a brief 17 syllable poem, the reader / listener is given a glimpse into a specific moment/ event/ insight/ truth. Haiku is meant to help the listener/ reader recognize the same insight/ moment in time/ that the writer has expressed--to the degree that you put the the listener "in the moment," ( it should be sensory) yore Haiku is successful.
Even capitalization adds subtle refinement, as Troll explained with Czar's winner in December:
"The Winning Haiku as Czar wrote it:
Myth, canon: topics
That pay the bills at my house.
Jesus, Mary: Jews.
Master Basho's Improvement
Myth, Canon: Topics
that pay the bills at my house.
Jesus, Mary: Jews.
Please post yore entries in the comment box by midnight PST on Monday August 1st. Post as many Haiku's as ya' like, but lemme know which is your official entry. Add imagery if ya' like at yore own blog--but it is not required. Points will be awarded for "old school" form, word play, an' how the Haiku sounds when read aloud (Rhythm, musicality).
I'se headed to Cajun Land tomorry. Mah Cajun Cousins is gonna be sittin' in on the judgin', so ain't no tellin' how that will round out--heh.
Is thar' a Prize??? Mon ami, but Of Course --Uncle is in charge of the Prize Department an 'I ain't got no haikclue what that'll be. (Thanky Czar). No matter, we'uns all know that we really compete fer the BADGE OF GREAT HONOR.
Aunty will announce the winner on Tuesday afternoon.
Best o' luck to y'all!
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