Seventeen Seashells

summer haiku –

gathering from the beach

seventeen seashells

  Magda Țocu

Magda Țocu’s poem came to me like a glove (in this heatwave), especially since many people wonder whether a haiku must have exactly 17 syllables. Now, I’m not sure what to say, but it seems there are indeed 17 seashells in the photo (quite by chance).

There are some well-respected authors who believe that YES, a haiku should have this exact number of syllables, and not just anyhow, but in the 5-7-5 pattern (with the middle line being the longest).

At a major international conference in Tokyo, around 1999, it was agreed that for those who can’t be so precise, a deviation of plus/minus 2 syllables is acceptable.

On the opposite end of the spectrum are those who don’t count syllables at all—because not every three-line poem with 17 syllables is a haiku, right? In the end, one way or another, you can stitch them together. But is that enough? Or is it necessary?

What is, in fact, the essence of haiku (beyond the form that suits each writer)? I’ll write more about that next time.

Until then, here’s another poem by the same author—one with a particular mystery and something... more.

sunrise offshore –

the fisherman’s thoughts

left behind on land

Comment by Ramona Bădescu