Matsuo basho

Travel Haiku: Lake Davis, CA

| Danna Smith

Haiku is about paying attention to a moment in nature and capturing that moment, like a snapshot, on paper with words (before it disappears). 

My husband and I recently took the jeep up to Lake Davis near Portola, CA in northern California to celebrate our wedding anniversary. Rather than keep a written journal or take a ton of pictures, I like to poetically record what I see in my travels. I’m sharing some of my travel haiku here today. Some attempts are better than others but hopefully, you can “see” what I saw through the imagery in these poems.

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Travel Haiku: Cambria California

| Danna Smith

Haiku is about “seeing”—about paying attention to a moment in nature and capturing that moment, like a snapshot, on paper with words (before it disappears). 

My husband and I recently took a drive to Cambria on the northern California coast to celebrate my birthday. Rather than keep a written journal, I like to poetically record what I see in my travels. I’m sharing some of my travel haiku here today. Some attempts are better than others but hopefully, you can “see” what I saw through the imagery in these poems.

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How Do You Haiku? #6 Haiga

| Danna Smith

UPDATE 8.19.23: DUE TO POPULAR DEMAND, THIS HOW DO YOU HAIKU BLOG SERIES IS NOW A BOOK! AVAILABLE SEPT 1, 2023. 🙂

And here we are, nearing the end of our How Do You Haiku?© series with the sixth of seven ways to write and share Haiku! Last week we created a Saijiki (season word dictionary)! Today, we’ll have fun with Haiga.

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How Do You Haiku? #4 Kuhi (Poem stone)

| Danna Smith

UPDATE 8.19.23: DUE TO POPULAR DEMAND, THIS HOW DO YOU HAIKU BLOG SERIES IS NOW A BOOK! AVAILABLE SEPT 1, 2023. 🙂

This is the fourth installment of our seven-post series on Haiku! Last week we wrote Haibun where we combined a story with haiku! Today, the way to help us find inspiration really rocks!

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How Do You Haiku? #3 haibun (story with haiku)

| Danna Smith

UPDATE 8.19.23: DUE TO POPULAR DEMAND, THIS HOW DO YOU HAIKU BLOG SERIES IS NOW A BOOK! AVAILABLE SEPT 1, 2023. 🙂

This is the third installment of our seven-post series on Haiku! Last week we wrote Picture Haiku where a picture of poppies by a mailbox provided colorful inspiration for my haiku. Today, we’re looking at another way to help us find inspiration — Haibun!

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How Do You Haiku? #2 Picture Haiku

| Danna Smith

UPDATE 8.19.23: DUE TO POPULAR DEMAND, THIS HOW DO YOU HAIKU BLOG SERIES IS NOW A BOOK! AVAILABLE SEPT 1, 2023. 🙂

Welcome to the second post of our seven-post series on Haiku! Last week we took a Ginko Walk in nature to help us find “haiku moments.” My Ginko Walk provided inspiration to write haiku about squirrels playing hopscotch and fish making touchdowns! Today, we’re looking at another way to help us find inspiration — Picture Haiku!

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How Do You Haiku? #1 Take a Ginko Walk

| Danna Smith

UPDATE 8.19.23: DUE TO POPULAR DEMAND, THIS HOW DO YOU HAIKU BLOG SERIES IS NOW A BOOK! AVAILABLE SEPT 1, 2023. 🙂

Haiku is the most popular form of poetry today, but did you know there are different ways to write and present haiku? Today, I’m starting a seven-post series I’m calling, How Do You Haiku?©. Each time I will introduce a fun way to create and present your haiku and, at the same time, give my haiku journal a little love and attention.

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Travel Haiku: Taking Haiku on the Road

| Danna Smith

Early this month, we talked about how to start a Haiku Journal. As mentioned, famous Japanese poet, Matsuo Basho, recorded his travels by way of haiku in his diary. I recently took a drive to the northern California coast for some R & R and thought I’d follow Basho’s lead by poetically recording what I saw each day. Here are a few of my travel haiku, hopefully you can “see” what I saw through the imagery in these poems:

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Starting a Haiku Journal

| Danna Smith

Haiku is about “seeing”—about paying attention to a moment in nature and capturing that moment, like a snapshot, on paper with words (before it disappears). Famous Japanese poet, Matsuo Basho (1644-1694), said that to write haiku you need to have the eyes and heart of a child. Seeing the world one snapshot at a time will help you connect with nature and make your haiku stronger. Haiku is one of my favorite forms, but I’ve never had a journal dedicated to it until recently.

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