It seems as though, all of a sudden, Haikus have reappeared on the scene.
Apparently the new EU President (and Belgian PM), Herman Van Rompuy, writes them as a hobby - mainly in his native Flemish.
He even publishes them on his official website: http://hermanvanrompuy.typepad.com/haiku/
This translation of one is the most frequently quoted in media reports:
Hair
Hair blows in the wind
After years there is still wind
Sadly no more hair.
His latest apparently translates as something like this (if anyone understands Dutch, feel free to provide a better translation!):
Water
Pee waits
For warmth to evaporate
Water becomes clouds
Not what you'd normally expect a politician to say!
Unsurprisingly, The Independent challenged its staff to have a go: http://tr.im/Fkls
Meanwhile, Intel and Microsoft have launched a competition to win a "Home Server" - essentially they want entrants to write a haiku explaining why they'd like one, and tweet it to them... (someone must have had a flash of inspiration - combining a tie breaker, haiku and Twitter!)
Naturally, The Register (satirical online IT news site) has rediscovered a bunch of error message haikus:
http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/msg00005...
Highlights include:
Yesterday it worked.
Today it is not working.
Windows is like that.
Three things are certain:
Death, taxes, and lost data.
Guess which has occurred.
Having been erased,
The document you're seeking
Must now be retyped.
-oOo-
I'm no wordsmith or literary genius (unlike most of you lot!), but 17 syllables in lines of 5, 7 and 5 shouldn't be too hard, should it?!
Big Closet / Top Shelf
Wonderful TG Fiction
Please comment and vote
(Well, on the fiction that is!)
Wuthering Dormice
Over 8 cent parts to date
Plus more cliffhangers
(You try writing an ode to our resident poet in only 17 syllables!)
Red wine is healthy
The scientists are claiming
But don't drink too much!
(Unsurprisingly, it's not the ethanol that's the healthy bit but the pigments)
And now I've had a glass of the stuff, my inspiration for more has left...
...so, over to you! See if you can do better (shouldn't be too difficult!)
Comments
Computer Verse
One of my favorite Internet Haikus has to be this one for a 404 (not found) error:
You step in the stream,
But the water has moved on.
This page is not here.
Then again:
The Web site you seek
Cannot be located, but
Countless more exist.
Some others that describe the tribulations of computer use are:
Chaos reigns within.
Reflect, repent, and reboot.
Order shall return.
Program aborting.
Close all that you have worked on.
You ask far too much.
Windows XP crashed.
I am the Blue Screen of Death.
No one hears your screams.
Your file was so big.
It might be very useful.
But now it is gone.
With searching comes loss
And the presence of absence:
"My Novel" not found.
Poetic Simplicity
Bike Resources
Here goes
The moving finger
Types, and having typed, moves on.
Nothing was saved, damn!
Angharad (with apologies to Omar K)
Angharad
Wuthering Haikus
Cathy changes sex,
Lives with Simon and Stella,
Many disasters.
Angharad
Angharad
More like Computer ad-Verse
Windows Greetings
Welcomes Unwary User
'Gates' of Hell !
:)
Kim
The wonders of post-it notes...
A quartet dreamed up just before drifting off to sleep - including a pair of plot summaries.
A school for mutants -
Superpowered teenagers!
That's Whateley, all right!
Welsh writing woman,
Dormouse lover and cyclist.
That's our Angharad!
Teleportation,
Magic entering the world -
Saless' Venus Cursed!
-oOo-
And because it's BBC Children in Need day over here in the UK:
Children in Need Day
Sponsorship and Fundraising
A very good cause!
--Ben
As the right side of the brain controls the left side of the body, then only left-handers are in their right mind!
Here's a Clerihew
I've never quite fathomed Haiku, but I've written quite a few clerihews in my time. The format was invented by Edmund Clerihew Bentley
Here's one I've just writted—as Bluebottle would have said—about the new president of the EU;
Herman van Rompuy
Was grumpy
Because Mrs Rompuy
Wouldn't give him Rompuy-Pompuy.
It's a bit spur of the moment. If you want to know more about Clerihews see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clerihew
Why not have a go yourself?
Gabi.
Gabi.
Rumpy Haiku
In today's Observer there's a brilliant haiku in the political cartoon on page 32, picturing the newly elected President of the Council of Europe saying:
As a master of Haiku
I say go speak
To the organ grinders
Curiously, on looking through the paper, I can find not another word about him or his election.
Penny