DREAMKU ARE NOT HAIKU (by Roswila)

[100 year old hand colored photo]


DREAMKU ARE NOT HAIKU

Someone recently informed me in an email that dreamku are not haiku. I can imagine why someone not having read my lengthy primer and other materials on the development of the dreamku form might think I believe that they are. But I have not ever claimed that dreamku and haiku are the same form, nor will I. I have too much respect and love for haiku. So I thought it might be timely to post a very short excerpt from my guest editorship stint on the “Edge of the Moon” page in the now defunct haiku magazine, MOONSET:

For many years, I attempted to write haiku about my dream world. I sometimes liked them well enough as little dream poems, but did not feel they did justice to the haiku form itself. In late 2006 I realized I might be developing a new form and began calling it "dreamku." This on-going “kissing cousin” relationship between the dreamku and haiku forms can sometimes make them indistinguishable. (E.g., one of my dreamku: the path spirals / to the garden's center / a first step.)

Generally, the differences between dreamku and haiku tend to be more of degree than of kind. E.g.: (1) Dreamku tend to be wordier. (2) Dreamku are frequently far less subtle and often very intense. (3) When possible dreamku "show not tell," but they often do "tell." (4) Seasons are frequently non-existent in a dream, making a kigo [season word or name of the season] uncommon in dreamku. However, I have read that the word "dream" itself could be considered a kigo. It has also been suggested that the dreamer could be the kigo, as she herself is the dream setting. (5) All this said, one of the haiku elements that I consider essential to dreamku is the kireji [the stop or full break between two elements]. As I see it, the relationship between two elements not only creates a spaciousness in this small form, but can help to accommodate the often unusual or impossible dream moment juxtapositions. [end of excerpt]

I should also explain that "dreamku" (based on usage by myself and others) refers to both the three line dream poem and to the lengthier combination of various forms (dreamku, tanka, two-liners, and monoku) I've been using recently with any one dream. However, as used in the excerpt above "dreamku" is referencing only the three line form.

I also hasten to add that I make no claims that any tanka, two-liner, or monoku I write about a dream adheres to that form's traditional parameters. In the case of these other forms I am less familiar with their traditional requirements than I am with those of haiku, and adapt what little I do know if I feel a strong need to do so.

See the links in my signature section immediately below for more information.


BRIEF INTRODUCTION TO DREAMKU (& PHOTOS): The dream-based poems posted on this blog -- dreamku, tanka, two-liners, and monoku -- are offered in the spirit of collaboration. I have done my part. Now it’s your turn to jump in and see what comes up for you. I.e., there is no right or wrong way to understand or interpret any of these dream offerings. Even my own understandings of them change over time. And it gives me joy when a reader sees something in any of them that I have not.

For more in-depth exploration:

-- a brief post about both dreamku and my photos THE AREN'TS OF DREAMKU & ACCOMPANYING DIGITAL PHOTOS.

-- detailed three-part post about dreamku: "A DREAMKU PRIMER: Writing Haiku-Like Poems About Your Night Dreams": PART ONE: Introduction & Writing Dreamku as Dream Work; PART TWO: Elements of the Haiku Form Used in Dreamku; and PART THREE: How to Write Dreamku (the second and third parts have some overlap).

-- a brief up-dating post about the three-part "A DREAMKU PRIMER" -- Important Up-date to A DREAMKU PRIMER....".

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‘til next time, keep dreaming,






If you wish to copy or use any of my writing or poems, please email me for permission (under “View my complete profile”). Roswila's other blogs: ROSWILA’S TAROT GALLERY & JOURNAL; ROSWILA’S TAIGA TAROT; and TRYING TO HOLD A BOX OF LIGHT.