Form Friday: I Write Haibun

I write haibun
prose combined with poetry
precise expressions

I write haibun! Sometimes I combine prose paragraphs with haiku or senryu because the syllable counts require precise words. At other time I combine the paragraphs with short, three or four line, free verse poems. My haibun blog entries are continually evolving because I experiment with the form.

I write haibun!
I listen to birds singing
on Sunrise Avenue
and I write.

I like the haibun form because it is versatile. I can use it with any subject and with any short poetry form. I can describe an early Las Vegas morning or a trip across the city. It is especially good when I want to sit with my front door open while I am writing. I can write a short paragraph, glance out my front door, and then write a poem

Early morning sky
Black transformed to powder blue
A rooster crows

Haibun is also good after meditation or prayer. When I write haibun I feel as if I am writing a meditation. A paragraph is inhaling a breath and the poem is exhaling the breath. Perhaps this is why I enjoy writing this poetry form.

Paragraph inhaled
Poem exhaled
Focusing on the words and lines
Counting breathes