An(1) Ti(2) Ci(3) Pa(4) Tion(5)

Haiku is a Japanese form of poetry utilizing approximately 5, 7 and 5 syllables in its three lines. The traditional haiku usually celebrated nature in all its forms, both actual and ethereal…sentimental stuff. Modern haiku celebrates every damn thing and gets assigned to college students regularly as an exercise in word manipulation and is used to curb overdone poetic eloquence. In other words, keep it simple; keep it direct and erase the word purple from your prose. Actually, the Japanese keep all 17 syllables in one line; it’s only in English that we make it three. Must be the visual.

Luckily I noticed right off the bat in the directions that the word “approximately” makes it clear that you can fudge a little bit when you screw yourself into a corner. So first I did this:

Anticipation:
Nostalgia for something
That hasn’t happened.

Then I did this:

Anticipation
Is nostalgia for something
That has yet to happen.

Of course a lot depends on how many syllables there are in the word nostalgia. Oh, well, I tried and it was all so damn serious my eyelids started to flutter.

Here is the best haiku I’ve seen in a long time. So pure, so to the point, so Peeps.