My enthusiasm for poetry goes back along way. It offered a simple, quick escape to other realms, far away from real life. This may explain my penchant for some of the great Romantic poets, Coleridge, Shelley, Blake and Wordsworth.
However somewhere along the line, I was captivated by the minimalism of Haiku, a highly structured and disciplined form of self expression originating from Japan. Despite the rigid structure, or perhaps because of it, Haiku still yields works of immense clarity.
Delivering complex thoughts and concepts in the traditional structure of 3 lines of text comprising of 17 Syllables (as interpreted from the Japanese approach) is a challenge. I’m not going to pretend to be capable of writing a decent Haiku, but I enjoy the process.
Inspired by a recent book purchase I have been updating Facebook with a daily Haiku, and tying to express my experiences each day, in 17 syllables.
In todays Haiku I referenced the remarkable transformative powers of the Caterpillar / Butterfly, and the fact, that for the most part, people marvel at the metamorphosis.
Change is not easy
I envy the butterfly
It bothers no-one
For a Butterfly, the transformation is a process that is celebrated and even revered in many cultures. For many people however, it is after all, simply what a Caterpillar does. Regardless of the biological “magic” its just normal.
My aim today was to express the disappointment that a fair less dramatic transformation can cause such distress in some people.
Seventeen Syllables may or may not be enough…..
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