A Haibun is a Japanese genre that mixes autobiographical writing with Haiku.
Five pointers
KEEP PROSE SIMPLE
USE SPARSE IMAGERY
EVOKE THE SENSES
USE THE PRESENT TENSE
THE HAIKU/S CAN BE INSERTED ANYWHERE BUT SHOULD ADD MEANING
https://www.masterclass.com/articles/how-to-write-haibun-poetry
https://www.masterclass.com/articles/how-to-write-a-haiku-in-4-easy-steps#quiz-0
Here is an attempt at Haibun.
THE SKIPPING ROPE
It is a
mean spirited town. At its heart the burnt out remains of O’Neill’s Castle smoulders.
scorched earth policy
employed throughout history
our culture erased.
Buildings
have eyes. As I stand at McAleer’s corner eating Pagni’s chips out of vinegar
sodden newspaper , I
feel their presence. Panoptic surveillance emanating from the RUC barracks at
the top of the Square, bolstered by the Ulster bank beside it, and higher up on the Castle's ruins the latest addition
British armoured towers,
iron clad, cube shaped set to watch
we the occupied.
In 1968 the
town is a battle ground flanked on two sides by council housing estates: the Ponderosa
and the White City, pebble dashed rows and blocks built at right angles to each
other on low lying bogs, inhabited mostly by the poorest Catholics who qualify for these by doing time in the vacated POW camp out the Moy Road. Working class protestants occupy more
salubrious zones to the south, Mill town and Moygashel, in red brick
industrial cottages nestling at the foot of the Windmill Hill or around the
linen factory, Dungannon’s industrial sector.
Bigotry runs deep in the runnels, in the rills, in the streams, and the air we breath will soon smell of metal and burning flesh. The town is on standby
like a skipping rope
strung tight between two players
neither keen to yield
And we wait for one of them to tighten grip
or loosen hold.
Powerful! I particularly liked this bit: scorched earth policy, employed throughout history, our culture erased. That can apply to what's happening in so many parts of the world!
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