Quote:
Originally posted by Henrietta kelly:
STEPHEN--
It would be really good is if a dedicated forum can be opened just for Haiku and all her cousins. I am really enjoying the open handed approach in this thread. it is very refreshing
small windows into others minds. it's magic --~~ henie
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Quote:
Originally posted by Cally Conan-Davies:
Hen - I agree with your plea to our captain, STEPHEN! This forum is the best place to be - it feels, as Henie put it so well, openhanded. A real workshop, with everyone pitching in and helping - like being in a sandpit with all your mates when you were a little kid.
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Hi Joan, Cally, Everyone,
Joan: Yes, I think Lee has "retired" for the night . . . but he has said that he'll be back tomorrow for a grand finale (no pressure, Lee!), so don't despair. Apple pie? I much prefer pumpkin.
Anyway, as for the question of playing in the thread here, or starting a new forum, I can't see any reason why we shouldn't continue this thread after Lee has escaped our clutches--at least, not until the next Distinguished Guest event begins next month. However, I don't think it would be appropriate to keep bumping this thread up once a new discussion starts getting underway.
More generally, your idea of a dedicated forum is interesting. If you mean a whole new board, like Met, TDE, Non-Met, etc.--that would involve a change to the site's (Eratoshpere's) overall plan, and that's a decision for Alex and Maryann to make. But if I understand you correctly, you're not looking for a "Post & Crit" arrangement like the other poetry boards anyway, right? After all, we've always had a place for haiku on the Non-Met board; it's just that the workshop model there is different, with
one poet and many critters, and none of the freer sort of back-and-forth that we've had here. And frankly, I think that we shouldn't disturb that model; it's part of what makes this place work. People should have a place to go for really searching critique and comment--the sort of stuff that can only happen when poems are given intensive, individual attention. Besides, it would probably be rather annoying after a while to have a thread like this popping up and hogging the top of the Non-Met board all the time.
So here's an idea: "Drills and Amusements." Sure, I know it sounds like we're trivializing a subtle and vibrant art like haiku to relegate it to D&A. But what's in a name? There's nothing to stop a committed group of haikuists from keeping up a sophisticated, instructive discussion on D&A, where poets can share ideas and new work, critting freely as the mood takes them, but without feeling constrained by the post&crit workshop model of the other boards. Anyone can open a thread there (unlike DG . . . I had to get special clearance, and I turn back into a pumpkin at the end of the month!), and there are no "unwritten rules" about quoting or showboating or whatnot.
And lest that model be so open-ended as to degenerate into mere random thread-sprawl, there's a good precedent in Japanese practice for keeping things interesting. In Japanese haiku clubs, there typically is a monthly get-together in which poets bring work to share and discuss,
all writing on one or more season topics agreed upon in advance. The benefit of such an arrangement is that it avoids the problem of too much "apples and oranges"; people can see how others have approached the same problem, and compare. The process doesn't need to be competitive, and not all poems need be restricted to the agreed-upon topic, but by imposing a little order on the chaos, the "set drill" makes for a real spur to creativity and learning. In other words, our Japanese cousins do Drills & Amusements too; nothing undignified about it.
Naturally, season words may be problematic given E'sphere's multi-latitude community, but we could just as easily run things on a system of key words: food, memories, milestones, love, hate, you name it. Someone can start a thread with a couple of key words in the subject line, calling for haiku and discussion, people can join in, and then when the discussion seems to have played out, someone can start a new one. It seems worth a try.
Cally, you might be amused to know that my original idea for the Open Mic thread was to call it "The Sandbox." But I didn't want people to feel I was trivializing the process, or that I was being condescending in any way, so I changed it to "The Warm-Up." In retrospect, though, I probably shouldn't have worried, eh? The sandbox spirit is precisely what I was hoping would emerge here.
Anyway, reading your 4 am poem reminds me of another "cats in love" piece I wrote years ago.
cats in love . . .
and here at home, steam rising
from my Cup Noodle
I'm glad that you kept at Lee with your questions concerning context; his comments about the problem of "surprise" are really illuminating. If and when we open a new forum for haiku play around here, we might consider framing them and putting them over the door.
Hungry? Cup Noodle!
Steve C.
[This message has been edited by Stephen Collington (edited October 20, 2008).]