Finding 17 syllables to sum up a moment, a flavor, a heart pang, a sunset, sticky little boy kisses, or a long drive home from a vacation has become my latest addiction.  Thinking all day long in haiku is a far more tragic sentence than tetris or bubble blast addictions.  Rather than redundant theme songs- syllabic rhythms are stuck in my brain.  Instead of shapes falling into place behind closed eyelids, words and themes keep me awake at night.

It's nerdy, I agree.  But everyone has their odd thing, and right now three lined, Japanese poetry is mine.  It all started this spring, when my third grader was doing a unit study on poetry.  We did rhyming couplets, Cin Quin poetry, prose and haikus.  The haikus stuck.  And then a few weeks ago my sister-in-law posted on Facebook a story and a challenge.  She wrote:

"The other day, while cleaning organic lettuce, I found a ladybug. Had been in fridge a couple of days, avoided the knife, was set free in yard. Challenge: write a haiku on this topic."

Ever since that day haikus have been my crack cocaine... I just can't get enough.  Even today, as I was out running errands with my youngest, Asher looked up at me and asked, "Mommy, would you skip with me?" I said "yes!" We skipped.  And 17 fresh syllables hit me in the parking lot outside of Target.  

I find it's so much easier to say "no" to my children than "yes".  After all, there is always laundry to do, meals to make, kitchens to clean, groceries that need to be brought home and put away.  But a simple yes makes all the difference.  It's the doorway to poetry!  Not just poetic inspiration, but poetic living!  Life spent together.  Skipping!  Because we said YES!

But here's my challenge to you!. What have you said yes to today?  Did you get down on the floor and play hot wheels?  Did you bury dinosaurs and then have a dig?  Did you bring a blanket outside and serve dinner al fresco?  What poetic thing did you say YES to today?

Now write a haiku!

The simple American Haiku consists of three lines, with 5-7-5 syllables, though there are numerous variations.  SHARE*