Roger, thank you for the opportunity to clarify haiku length. This is Neal Whitman, Pulse haiku editor. In the Japanese tradition, a haiku is a single vertical line of 17 sound units. That prompted in English three lines of 5-7-5 syllables. However, due to differences in the two languages, 17 syllables in English is not wrong, but is a bit long compared to Japanese haiku. So, most contemporary writers in English use less than 17 syllables. For example, in frogpond, the journal of the Haiku Society of America, few, if any, haiku are 17 syllables. By coincidence in this month’s HSA newsletter is an essay by a university creative writing teacher, “Teaching Haiku for Those Who Think a Haiku is 5-7-5 .” Regardless of syllable length, I hope you find Pulse haiku of interest to you, keeping in mind that no two people read the same poem and the reader is never wrong. This is touched upon on the Pulse haiku submission page in the month of October when haiku are submitted in a link “Rules of the Road.”
When I was just a boy in high school, I used to take care of my grandmother, who had dementia, to give my uncle some respite. I learned a lot about compassion for another human being who could not function on her own. At that time, the term “babysitting” was what we called it. I was a teenager on a Saturday night taking care of her so my uncle who cared for her all week long could go out. I felt good about what I was doing. I have carried that positive memory with me throughout my life.
I grew up in Buffalo NY and there was a Pappas family in the apartment complex we lived in. I recall a son and a daughter who were about my age. Any chance you are related to that Pappas family:? thanks Larry Bauer
It is a very common Greek name, perhaps the most common. It means “father” or “priest.” Priests were allowed to marry in the Greek church and I guess they had a lot of babies. With the ending “-opoulos” it means “son of a priest.” I don’t think they are my relatives, but you could ask them. There are a few that I have not kept track of.
6 thoughts on “a visit to”
In all due respect to the author and Pulse, this is not a haiku
A haiku must have 5-7-5 syllables such as in Basho’s haiku
The childless housewife-
how tenderly she touches
little dolls for sale
Roger, thank you for the opportunity to clarify haiku length. This is Neal Whitman, Pulse haiku editor. In the Japanese tradition, a haiku is a single vertical line of 17 sound units. That prompted in English three lines of 5-7-5 syllables. However, due to differences in the two languages, 17 syllables in English is not wrong, but is a bit long compared to Japanese haiku. So, most contemporary writers in English use less than 17 syllables. For example, in frogpond, the journal of the Haiku Society of America, few, if any, haiku are 17 syllables. By coincidence in this month’s HSA newsletter is an essay by a university creative writing teacher, “Teaching Haiku for Those Who Think a Haiku is 5-7-5 .” Regardless of syllable length, I hope you find Pulse haiku of interest to you, keeping in mind that no two people read the same poem and the reader is never wrong. This is touched upon on the Pulse haiku submission page in the month of October when haiku are submitted in a link “Rules of the Road.”
When I was just a boy in high school, I used to take care of my grandmother, who had dementia, to give my uncle some respite. I learned a lot about compassion for another human being who could not function on her own. At that time, the term “babysitting” was what we called it. I was a teenager on a Saturday night taking care of her so my uncle who cared for her all week long could go out. I felt good about what I was doing. I have carried that positive memory with me throughout my life.
Jimmy Pappas
I grew up in Buffalo NY and there was a Pappas family in the apartment complex we lived in. I recall a son and a daughter who were about my age. Any chance you are related to that Pappas family:? thanks Larry Bauer
It is a very common Greek name, perhaps the most common. It means “father” or “priest.” Priests were allowed to marry in the Greek church and I guess they had a lot of babies. With the ending “-opoulos” it means “son of a priest.” I don’t think they are my relatives, but you could ask them. There are a few that I have not kept track of.
Is this as mean and insulting as it seems?