In Robert Lee Brewer’s Poetic Asides Column in the January 2012 issue of Writer’s Digest I discovered this poetic alternative to haiku. According to Brewer, this three-line poem can be “meditative, descriptive or funny. Unlike haiku, the number of syllables in the first line of hay(na)ku don’t matter, but the number of words do. The first line must have one word, the second line, two and the third line, three. Strangely enough, the name is said to be a take-off on “Hay Naku” – a Filipino slang expression similar to “OMG!” Here’s my first attempt:
Susan
endures life
without a net.
Dazzle me with your hay(na)ku.
