Alphabet Haiku
A New Combination of Poetic Constraints
analog beings
can digitally evolve
faith guarantees hope
incredible joy
kindness, loving, mindfulness
nightly overflow
perhaps quietness
revealing something truthful
universally
verifiable
without xenophobia
yielding zygotes
I’ve always loved haiku, and recently read some great abc poems. This exercise, combining the two formats, was surprisingly difficult to complete (at least for me) yet also very satisfying. Combining these two restrictive style constraints forces authors into rethinking their ideas and coming up with totally new angles of expression.
I did a bit of quick research, but couldn’t find any existing instances of someone trying to combine these two styles. It sounded hard, and silly, and thus potentially quite fun. Curious if it were even possible to come up with a poem that meets both criteria perfectly, I just decided to try it. For me personally, it was a great learning experience.
Writing short poetry can be a wonderful way to escape your loftier and mundane daily goals, and exercise your brain in a relaxing and invigorating new way. Give it a try, you may be surprised how much you enjoy it!
Thank you for reading — I hope my small selections of syllables have opened up new neural pathways for your mind. Feedback of all types is always welcome.
