Lily Writes Haiku

Haiku (or hokku) A Japanese verse form most often composed, in English versions, of three unrhymed lines of five, seven, and five syllables. A haiku often features an image, or a pair of images, meant to depict the essence of a specific moment in time.

 When my daughter Lily behaves badly, she must do something extra beyond her existing chores. I often let her choose between doing something creative, or doing another menial task. She always chooses to do something creative, and she often chooses to write haiku. I can’t bust her chops for choosing something with only seventeen syllables, since a good haiku is just as hard to write as a seventeen-page essay. She can choose any subject, and she often chooses to write about how much she hates writing haiku for me. I often then respond to her in haiku. Below are some good ones from last summer. 

People are so weird,

even when they are normal.

I am one of them.

 

My dad is so lame.

I hate when he wears sunscreen,

and looks like a ghost.

 

I don’t like haikus.

They make me very upset.

They are for losers.

 

Then stop if you want.

Creativity must burn,

from the inside out.

 

I really want food.

I am a small growing child.

Satisfied now, Yay!

 

Haikus make me sad.

They can sometimes make me die.

What is my sad life.

 

The Kardashians

have a lot of big money

Really annoying.

 

I don’t like haikus.

Can I please stop writing them.

It is annoying.

 

Choose a different task?

Creative fires must burn bright,

and you must feed them.