LoH and a Hay(na)Ku

Hay(na)ku? When I first heard of this relatively new poetry form I had to try it. Poet Eileen Tabios is credited as the creator in 2003. Hay(na)ku is a 3-line poem with one word in the first line, two words in the second, and three in the third. There are no restrictions beyond this.

You can link your hay(na)ku up into chains, and reverse them. It seems limiting, and it is. My experience with the strict forms is they force me to be more creative. So far I’ve only tried one as my response to my monthly Ladies of Horror prompt. I went for a kitschy 50s era sci-fi paranoia feel. The choppy rhythm made me hear Captain Kirk’s voice.

You can read Butterflies Lie, my first hay(na)ku, here. Try one for yourself and share the link in the comments!

For those of you who aren’t familiar with Ladies of Horror, it’s a writing project on Nina D’Arcangela’s Spreading the Writer’s Word blog. Ladies of Horror – all the pieces are picture-prompt oriented with two authors posted per day.

Here are July’s images and the line-up…

Witching Hour
by Ela Lourenco