Friday, September 30, 2011

Subgenres

Like fiction, haiku have subgenres. Urban, shasei, gendai, haiku noir, and politiku, to name a few. I like them all but haven't tried my hand at many of them. Someday I may try, just for the heck of it, to write a couple of haiku noir that require cinematic techniques, a very intriguing subgenre. I have, though, written some politiku and posted them on Facebook. Politiku, as you can see, are haiku about political, social, and economic issues. The current situation provides a fertile ground for politiku.

Here's one of my politiku recently posted on Facebook:

days-old egg rolls
from a restaurant . . .
spending cuts

If you are not a haiku writer, you'll probably don't see the connection between the first two lines and the last line. The dot, dot, dot at the end of line two offers the reader a pause. In this politiku, line three has double meaning. Its one meaning : the government cuts spending and therefore many of the federal and local departments are understaffed. With insufficient manpower, inspectors don't inspect restaurants on a regular basis. Its other meaning: the restaurant owner who minds his/her bottom line also cuts spending and serves customers old food.

Such is the charm and power of haiku--with just three short lines and they can say aplenty.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I love your politiku. Very timely in today's economy and political climate