Tuesday, August 30, 2016

Playing games with Haiku

Today I was thinking about a new form of Haiku. Or it may not actually be a 'new'; form at all, I don't know. I'm prepared to hear what others think about my ideas concerning Haiku in Australia. I will call this form AussieKu or perhaps Ausku.

This form is about the idea of writing haiku which are Australian. Australia is a great big country, and many of the things about Australia are unique to our land. The wide open lands, where a kangaroo hopping past with her baby or babies in her pouch can certainly be there in the paddocks, by the roads, in the bushland ...

So this line of thinking jumped into my mind this morning when three crows flew overhead, calling as they went,  and then began circling overhead, above a paddock not far from my house. I thought about sheep in the paddocks, and the new lambs I've been seeing in these past few weeks, and a small poem was suddenly in my head.

This is an edited version of the initial poem:

The crows overhead
cawing, then circling over lambing ewes ...
Faaaaak, faaaark!

I've lived in the country long enough now, to imagine the mayhem that might occur, if one of the ewes were to get into trouble as they bring their new lambs into the world. Childbirth can be a worrying time, whether you're human or an animal. My heart aches for the bloodied babe that becomes a victim of Nature at its further bloodiest times.

I may not be a farmer, and for that I am often thankful, but I am a caring person, and I have been a small animal breeder in my past. Every new creature is a blessing, and every life is to be helped as much as possible. Farming is all a gamble though, and Mother Nature doesn't care either way, I don't think. Lamb or crow, it means everything, and it means nothing to Mother Nature ...

So what do you think? Do you have thoughts about any of this? I'd love to read about your thoughts ...