The siren song of the big ocean retold in a botched haiku

Across the deck

and through the rigging

from the open sea

I heard the tempting ocean

sing its song to me

I thought this was going to be my first haiku, at least the first one I intended to be a haiku. I worked very carefully to get 17 beats and it even came out with a rhyme.

Then just for kicks, I looked up the definition. After all what fun is there in doing research ahead of time? I like writing what I want and then looking for a place it might fit. As for haikus, first of all, it's not 17 beats, it's supposed to be 17 syllables. Not only that, they are supposed to be arranged in three lines of five, then seven, then five syllables. And most don't rhyme. I guess I could arrange the words with the syllables in the proper numerical sequence, but I think then I would end up with something ee cummings might have written and that guy didn't even know how to use capital letters.

So, while mine might not be an epic fail, it certainly isn't a classic haiku either, but I like it; there is a nice rhythm to it, so I am going to keep it this way and try haiku another time.

It is however my first meme, so we are going to have to deal with that.

Here's an example of a real haiku written by my friend Philip Munger, who is hanging out along the West Coast of the Outside states these days and is writing a series of them as he travels:

Road Haikus continued: in a waiting room

medical empires

reflected on the glass wall

to see inside us

Now, that's the way it's supposed to be done.

Oh, and by the way, yes, that's me on a dock in Florida, early 1950s. And, yes, too, I did get to go to sea for a while.

ee cummings and I
Singin' them songs about them storms at sea
Sailing in the wake of a personal hero